In Dita Von Teese's song "Bird of Prey," the woman is a predator and the men around her hopeless prey. It's a fitting visual for these times. Composer Sébastien Tellier wrote the song for Von Teese, a world-renowned burlesque performer. It's a psychedelic, almost eerie tune structured only by an insistent drumbeat.
"Bird of Prey’ is one of the songs from my album with Sébastien Tellier. On New Year’s Eve, fans heard a remixed version during my performance. Stay tuned for more!" Teese told Refinery29. Her full album, titled Dita von Teese, will arrive February 16, and is already available for pre-order.
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According to Tellier, the song is meant to evoke "Dita flying above the world, hunting the tiny men on its surface with her eagle eye.”
Tellier, a venerated French singer-songwriter, will be writing all of the songs for Von Teese's upcoming album, which will be her first solo musical effort. She has featured on a couple of songs before — in 2016, she appeared on the song "Gucci Coochie" by Die Antwoord. But this is her first venture into Von Teese-only music. On "Bird of Prey," Von Teese is alone, surrounded only by lofty synths. This is the second song from the album that Von Teese has released. The first, titled "Rendez-vous," premiered in late November.
“I’m not a professional singer. In fact, I’m quite uneasy about recording my voice. But I do enjoy the thrill of doing things that are outside of my comfort zone," Von Teese told Rolling Stone in November. Because singing is new to her, she explained, it affords some vulnerability that she can't express through burlesque.
"To describe the album is difficult; perhaps it’s me with less make-up. At times, there’s a certain vulnerability which stands in contrast to my stage image of a confident and glamorous woman," she said.
Listen to "Bird of Prey," exclusively on Refinery29, below.
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