Music critics generally praised "Tonight" for its production and PinkPantheress's vocal performance. Commercially, the track reached the national charts of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The music video for "Tonight", directed by Charlotte Rutherford, depicts PinkPantheress and her friends hosting a rowdy party at a manor house, where they kiss passionately and engage in pillow fights. The period drama–inspired video contains various fashion and aesthetic choices that evoke the Regency era and the television series Bridgerton. PinkPantheress performed "Tonight" at the 2025 Glastonbury Music Festival, as well as on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts.
Background and release
PinkPantheress released her debut mixtape, To Hell with It, on 15 October 2021,[1] followed by her debut studio album, Heaven Knows, on 10 November 2023.[2] She revealed that she was working on new music in July 2024, before cancelling her remaining 2024 concerts to focus on her health. She tweeted images of herself in a studio in January 2025, writing, "Oh, we are soooo back! [...] Thanks for waiting on me".[3] In an interview with Mixmag in March of that year, she said that she had been writing about "letting expectations go" and "trying to strike a balance between being a pop star and also being experimental".[4][5]
When I made 'Tonight', I felt like I kind of figured out what I was trying to do here. I wanted to strike a balance between sounding more polished and mature, but still sounding like me, and still with a lot of that U.K. influence.
"Tonight" is 2 minutes and 54 seconds long.[20] Prior to its release, PinkPantheress wrote on social media, "Ion wanna see no more song length jokes after this song comes out on Friday", alluding to her songs usually being about 2 minutes and 30 seconds long.[21][22] "Tonight" is a synth–driven dance,[23][24]dance-pop,[25][26]house,[27] and bassline track[21][28][29] with four-on-the-floor beats, hyperpop vocals, and UK garage and drum and bass influences.[30][29] The song begins with orchestral strings before transitioning into its dance–heavy production.[23] Critics described its bass part as "thumping",[31] "hefty",[30] "groovy",[32] "wonky",[33] and "bubbly".[34]
In the lyrics, the song's narrator flirts with her shy crush;[19][35] she "chucks her charming innocence and cuts to the chase" in the refrain: "You want sex with me? Huh? / Come talk to me, come on".[31][35] PinkPantheress stated that she wanted the narrator to be "the one in control", unlike her previous songs in which "the ball is in the other person's court".[16]Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that PinkPantheress's vocals on the track were "almost nonchalant",[36] while Rolling Stone's Will Hermes believed that she was "plasticizing her voice".[37]Alexis Petridis of The Guardian thought that the lyrics of "Tonight" referenced the songs "Complicated" (2002) by Avril Lavigne and "Sex on Fire" (2008) by Kings of Leon.[30]
Critical reception
Music critics generally praised "Tonight" for its production and PinkPantheress's vocal performance. Robin Murray of Clash dubbed it a "ridiculously infectious [...] dose of pop futurism that arrives with a sly grin on its face",[38] and Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described it as an "unabashed sex song".[28] Zachary Horvath from HotNewHipHop praised the song's overall sound and thought that it exemplified PinkPantheress's "addicting" production style and "wildly entrancing" vocal delivery.[32]NME's Kyann-Sian Williams commended its adrenaline-pumping atmosphere,[39] and Pitchfork's Harry Tafoya deemed the track "impressive" and lauded how "the fast-paced thump mirrors a dawning sense of romantic urgency."[40] Elaina Bernstein from Hypebeast,[41] Derrick Rossignol from Uproxx,[42] and the editorial staff of Consequence selected "Tonight" as one of the best songs of its release week.[43]Consequence praised PinkPantheress's "feathery" vocals and the combination of baroque strings with club–driven beats.[43]Billboard listed "Tonight" as one of their "R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week", with Michael Saponara lauding its production and mature narrative.[44]Wonderland similarly lauded its production and "playful" lyrics, including "Tonight" on their list of the best newly released songs.[45]
In June 2025, "Tonight" was picked as one of the best songs of the year by Billboard (20 out of 50)[31] and Consequence (24 out of 100).[46] Paolo Ragusa from the latter publication commended PinkPantheress's "honeyed vocals and untouchable attitude" and the song's "roomy, nostalgic production", although he thought that the track was "relatively straightforward" overall.[46] Publications such as NME,[47]Vogue,[33]Cosmopolitan,[48] and Exclaim! picked "Tonight" as one of the "songs of the summer".[49]Vogue's Liam Hess deemed it the highlight of Fancy That, describing it as a "three-minute slice of pop perfection" and praising its composition and catchy refrain.[33]NME's Karen Gwee described it as "light and addictive",[47] while Cosmopolitan's Samantha Olson stated that it "makes a Panic! at the Disco sample sound like a voguing track made for endless nights breaking a sweat on the dance floor."[48] Maria Sherman from the Associated Press picked "Tonight" as the "song of the summer for the chronically online".[29]
Music video
The music video for "Tonight", directed by Charlotte Rutherford, was released on 4 April 2025, the same day as the song's release.[18][50] PinkPantheress stated that she wanted to make a "more classic pop video, where you have sets and you have a different hairstyle than usual and a dress that looks like something you wouldn't wear."[51] The music video depicts PinkPantheress and her friends riding on bicycles and carriages to a manor house,[24][35] where they throw a chaotic party, kiss passionately, and engage in pillow fights. At the party, a DJ spins records on a phonograph, a woman's hair sets on fire, and a man inside of a portrait steps out of it.[25][19][44] The costumes in the period drama–inspired video incorporate corsets, powdered wigs, and pearls,[18][19][50] which media publications described as reminiscent of the Regency era[note 1] and the television series Bridgerton.[note 2] PinkPantheress revealed that the music video was inspired by Bridgerton and the music video for Jamiroquai's song "King for a Day" (1999), the latter of which showcases elements from the Georgian era.[51] The dance that PinkPantheress performed in the music video went viral on the online video platform TikTok following her dance challenges with other celebrities, including American rapper Doechii.[52][53]
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