"Really Don't Like U" (stylised in

sentence case Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing systems ...

) is a song by Swedish singer-songwriter

Tove Lo Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take on pop music. Referring to her autobiographical lyrics, ''Out (magazine), O ...

featuring Australian singer

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

. It was released on 6 September 2019, as the fourth single from Lo's fourth studio album '' Sunshine Kitty'' (2019). The song was written by Lo,

Caroline Ailin Caroline Furøyen (born 1989), also known by her stage name Caroline Ailin, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter based in London. She co-wrote " New Rules", a single by Dua Lipa which reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and US pop radio in ...

and its producer

Ian Kirkpatrick Ian Andrew Kirkpatrick (born 24 May 1946) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. Described as "supremely athletic, fast, fearless and with an uncanny sense of anticipation", Kirkpatrick is widely regarded as one of the greatest flankers ...

. "Really Don't Like U" is an

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and electro song, with its lyrics discussing feelings of betrayal and dislike towards the new lover of an ex.

Background and recording

"Really Don't Like U" was written by Lo,

and its producer

. Lo explained how the song came to fruition, stating that she met Minogue in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

at an

AmfAR amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, known until 2005 as the American Foundation for AIDS Research, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of ...

event and expressed interest to collaborate on a track. Lo then pitched the song to Minogue, who decided to feature. "Really Don't Like U" was then announced in August 2019, as part of the track list of her fourth upcoming album, ''Sunshine Kitty''. In a press release for the single, Minogue commented that their collaboration "seemingly came out of nowhere" but was the "perfect moment". Lo also stated: The track was recorded at Zenseven Studios in Tarzana, California, USA, MXM Studios in Los Angeles, USA and SARM Studios in London, UK.

Release and composition

"Really Don't Like U" was released as the fourth single from Lo's upcoming fourth studio album, '' Sunshine Kitty'', by

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

on 6 September 2019. The cover art depicts a hand holding glittered handcuffs on a pink silk background, and features a love heart shape containing the singers' logos and various icons. The song runs for three minutes and 45 seconds. Music critics have described "Really Don't Like U" as a blend of various subgenres of

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

, including

, electro,

eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

, and R&B. The "slinky" production is based on a skittering, minimal electronic beat, while the duo sing together on the chorus: "I know I’ve got no right to / I know I’ve got no right to / Really, I just don’t like you". Lyrically, the song discusses the feelings of seeing an ex with another girl at a party.

Reception

The song has received critical acclaim from music critics. Mike Wass of ''Idolator'' said that "Really Don't Like U" is a "shimmery electro-pop bop", praising the song for discussing "a very relatable theme". Emily Zemler of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' commented that "the pair's airy vocals meld together over the chorus", while an editor from ''Out'' called the collaboration "pop excellence", stating that the song "deconstructs girl-on-girl hate while still acknowledging that just because we know a behavior is wrong doesn’t mean we can stop doing it." Shaad D'Souza of ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'' called the song "a typically sly, chaotic track from the Swedish pop musician".

Promotion

The lyric video for "Really Don't Like U" was uploaded to Lo's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on 13 September. The video was filmed in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, and begins with "both women anxiously staying in their apartments to avoid confrontation". Scenes of Lo walking down various streets and Minogue singing the song into a microphone at a bar are later featured, with " karaoke booth-style lyric captions" displayed on screen throughout.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from ''Sunshine Kitty'' liner notes: *

– vocals, composition, lyrics *

– vocals *

– composition *

– production, composition, programming * John Hanes – mixing * Serban Ghenea – mixing *

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey. Gehringer is known for having mastered recordings by popular artists such as AJR, Dua Lipa, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Harry Styles, ...

– mastering

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{Kylie Minogue songs 2019 singles 2019 songs Tove Lo songs Kylie Minogue songs Songs written by Tove Lo Songs written by Caroline Ailin Songs written by Ian Kirkpatrick (record producer) Electropop songs Republic Records singles Breakup songs