"Physical" is a song by English and Albanian singer Dua Lipa from her second studio album, Future Nostalgia (2020). Lipa wrote the song with Jason Evigan, Clarence Coffee Jr. and Sarah Hudson, taking inspiration from 1980s music and the 1983 film Flashdance. It was produced by Evigan and Koz, and stemmed from a Persian flute synth sample that was played by the former. An uptempo dance-pop, power pop and synth-pop song, the song features a chugging synth bassline, drums and various percussion instruments. Lipa uses a spoken word, belting and chanting vocal delivery, and quotes Olivia Newton-John's 1981 song of the same name. The lyrics describe the honeymoon phase of a relationship and the importance of trusting one's instincts.
"Physical" was released through Warner Records for digital download and streaming as the album's second single on 30 January 2020. It was met with acclaim from music critics. Critics viewed the high energy of the song and Lipa's vocals as uniquely reinterpreting the 1980s era. It was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2021 Brit Awards and appeared on numerous 2020 year-end lists, including ones published by Billboard, The Guardian and NME. The song reached number one in Bulgaria, Croatia, Israel, Lebanon, and Poland, and peaked in the top 10 of 17 additional countries, including the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number three, becoming Lipa's eighth UK top 10 single. The song is certified Gold or higher in sixteen countries including diamond in France and Poland and platinum in the UK.
The accompanying high concept music video was directed by Spanish production team Canada, and is based on a Venn diagram by Swiss artist duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss from their series of works, Order and Cleanliness (1981). The video shows Lipa dancing in various coloured warehouse stage sets and features anime-inspired animation. The music video received praise from critics for its high-concept nature and rejection of heteronormativity. The video received numerous accolades, including Best Visual Effects at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards. Further promotion came from the release of a 1980s-inspired workout video, in which Lipa is an aerobics class instructor as well as numerous remixes, including one featuring Hwasa as well as one by Mark Ronson featuring Gwen Stefani that appears on Lipa and the Blessed Madonna's remix album Club Future Nostalgia (2020). Lipa performed the song on numerous occasions, including at the 2021 Brit Awards, 2020 LOS40 Music Awards and 2020 NRJ Music Awards.
Writing and production
"Physical" was written by Lipa, Clarence Coffee Jr., Sarah Hudson, and its producer Jason Evigan. The song was inspired by 1980s music and the 1983 film Flashdance. It was created at Evigan's home studio in Tarzana, Los Angeles, where Hudson used a tarot card reading as an icebreaker for the session. Lipa wanted the track to be fun, upbeat, and unique from what was played by radio stations at the time, and she suggested the use of world music instruments. "Physical" thus started with a Persian flute sample Evigan played. Koz later fine-tuned the production, filtering down the volume of the flute sample, which was nearly excluded according to Evigan. Coffee Jr. and Hudson recorded backing vocals with Lipa, simultaneously in the same booth.
Lipa described the writing process as a puzzle of collaborative ideas being put together, which Hudson noted down in all caps. Lyrics such as, "You got me feeling diamond rich / Nothing on this planet compares to it", were written with inspiration from the 1980s era. Lipa came up with the bridge melody when experimenting with a bedroom microphone. The "Let's get physical" line in the chorus of "Physical" is also used in Olivia Newton-John's 1981 song of the same name. However, the former was not based on it, although Lipa acknowledged afterwards that there is "definitely a nod" to the song. According to her, "Physical" was a "spur-of-the-moment kind of song, which at times had a Eurythmics vibe to it". The song was recorded at London's the Bunker at 13 and RAK Studios as well as Modulator Music in Toronto; the vocals were recorded at TaP Studio in London. Matty Green mixed the song at Studio 55 in Los Angeles and Chris Gehringer mastered it at Sterling Sound in Edgewater, New Jersey.