“I’ve always loved a good dance, and I’ve always loved a bit of disco, so Murder is my toast to all of that” — Sophie Ellis-Bextor

The year is 2001 and the airwaves are gleefully saturated with a new wave of pop music. Former Spice Girls are duking it out for dominance, Kylie Minogue is spinning her way back to the top of the charts and P!nk is just beginning to get the party started. It was a magical, if somewhat different, time for the landscape of pop. But despite this rich vein, expanding your musical horizons was a slightly trickier task, especially if you were a child of eleven years and confined to the depths of the Irish countryside (me).

You essentially had three options available. First, save up all your pocket money and, on a rare trip into the city, splurge it on the latest NOW compilation album. You could also plead with a parent to buy you Smash Hits magazine (an even more atypical occurrence). Or, you would pounce on your lime green Alba cassette player the second you heard Shakira’s Whenever, Wherever on the radio and perilously hold down the record button in the hopes that at least 80% of the track survived.

It is within this turbulent atmosphere that my love of pop first began to propagate. It was a bit of a suppressed expression however. I knew other boys weren’t listening to Britney, but it was this kind of music that gave me life. So I concealed it, pretended to like the bands I was supposed to while pressing my ear against quietened speakers when I knew no-one could hear. But in December of that year something changed when Sophie Ellis-Bextor released a particular single called Murder on the Dancefloor.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: Murder on the Dancefloor

Her name was already distinctly familiar to me. At the time I had recollections of a Breton striped Sophie sashaying with her dancers in the Take Me Home video released a few months previous, and Groovejet had been an unyielding staple on the Top 40 Oifigiúil na hÉireann. But there was something about Murder on the Dancefloor that struck an entirely different chord with me. It seemed like a cultural reset, even though at that age, I had little idea what this meant.

I knew I loved pop music, but this was the first instance I can remember of being obsessed with a song. I would unabashedly practice the dance routine in my bedroom, perfectly timing my own piercing stomp with Sophie’s during the infamous ‘All Together’ section. I’d mirror her refined inflections, singing “dawh-nce” instead of “dance”. I would repeat the track over and over again, losing all inhibitions with every turn in my stereo. Even to this day, it still regularly sneaks its way into my Spotfiy ‘Year-End Most Played’ lists. But what was it about Murder on the Dancefloor that managed to fully stoke the pop music fire in my belly?

There is something so beautifully violent about the lyrics first of all. Sophie casually sings of burning god damn houses, killing grooves and stealing moves. Coupled with her plummy British accent, the dazzlingly sugary neo-disco beat and arrestingly nonchalant delivery, it creates a delicious juxtaposition of pseudo-sinister and campy fun that just strangely works. It is sung with tongue firmly placed in cheek, offering just the right dash of substance to stop it from veering into the absurd.

Combined with a music video that magnificently encapsulates the wickedly dark undertones of the song, Murder on the Dancefloor was reaching for a practically perfect pop music package. I remember being enraptured watching as Sophie deliberately sabotaged a dance competition for her own gain, poisoning contestants and flirting with judges all while somehow managing to pull off glittering green eye shadow and a slick of red lipstick. It is simply a masterpiece.

And I really don’t think we should mince words here. Murder on the Dancefloor is a magnum opus of pop music. It effortlessly blends unique of-the-moment appeal with an endurance that can only be attributed to a handful of songs. Managing to define an era of pop like no other, Murder on the Dancefloor has remained a touchstone track that seems to transcend generations. It quietly ushered in a new form of sophisticated pop and its influence can certainly be spotted in the subsequent evolution of the genre.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has been bringing her brand of elegant refinement to music for more than 20 years now. A uniquely talented disco-dolly, she has seamlessly sewed together some of the best elements of pop throughout her career, utilising giltz and glamour to create music that shines in so many facets. And Murder on the Dancefloor personifies all of this for me. It was the song, the one that managed to obliterate any reservations I had about what pop music was and what it could do.