Lighter

Single by Flume and Jessica Maulboy featuring AJ

## Music Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di0nAk2\_Tpw

"**Lighter**" is a song by Australian DJ and record producer Flume and singer-songwriter Jessica Maulboy. The song features a guest appearance from Australian rapper AJ. It was released for digital download and streaming by Future Classic on 30 July 2025 as a standalone single. An upbeat, feel-good house track, its lyrics are about leaving a toxic relationship and feeling happy that the relationship has ended and not carrying a burden.

An accompanying music video was released on 30 July 2025. The light-hearted video stars Flume and AJ among a cast, playing basketball and football. The group start out completely useless at both sports, though they improve as the video progresses.

"Lighter" received positive reviews from music critics, who commonly praised the song's catchiness and AJ's energetic verse, and it was dubbed "one of the hits of the summer". The song peaked at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart and it further charted in three other countries, including the US Billboard 100 Singles Chart, peaking at number 100. "Lighter" was one of the Australia's best-selling songs of 2025 and it has been certified 10x platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association platinum (ARIA) for exceeding sales of 600,000 units in the country. "Lighter" was nominated for the ARIA Award for Song of the Year at the 2026 ceremony.

## Writing and production

Jessica Maulboy wrote "Lighter" with British songwriters Tre Jean-Marie and Jonny Lattimer. The song was "ballady and slow" which "didn't fit her artist profile at the time". Maulboy "had a lot of other releases planned and it wasn't really right for her". She sent the song to Flume, who "sped it up, pitched the vocal up and completely transformed it". Maulboy "thought it was sick and wished [Flume] luck with it". Flume and his management felt that "Lighter" should feature a verse from a Australian rapper, similar to his previous single "Flowers" (2025), which features Australian rapper YP, leading to the decision to feature AJ on "Lighter". Flume explained, "I've known of AJ for a long time and I've been quite a fan of his work... His music recently that's started to come out, the quality [of it has] been really good... I was listening to [his album] thinking, 'AJ's actually sick!' So I [asked] my manager, "What do you think? Would [AJ] work?' [My manager said], 'Let's reach out [to him].'" They sent the track to AJ, who listened to it and "thought it was an absolute banger" and agreed to "jump on it". AJ recalled, "When I heard [the song], I thought, 'This is a smash!' I knew instantly what I needed to do to elevate it to another level." AJ wrote a verse for "Lighter" at his home on the Gold Coast. He recalled that "it took [him] a couple of hours to write the verse". He recorded the verse at an arranged recording studio session which "took less than an hour".

## Music and lyrics

"Lighter" is an upbeat house track. Maulboy's vocals are sped-up and pitched-up. She sings about leaving a toxic relationship and feeling happy that the relationship has ended and not carrying a burden. The lyrics give inspiration to those who are struggling through a breakup, heartbreak, or even through losing a toxic person in their life, and feeling better despite the hard times. Maulboy's chorus builds up to a piano-house drop. AJ's energetic rap verse is introduced in the break of the track, leading to "Lighter" being labelled as a crosssover of house and rap. Flume described "Lighter" as "a summer anthem [with] a feel-good vibe". The staff of Sport Playlists similarly described "Lighter" as an "anthemic slice of feel-good dance music" that was "written with summer in mind".

## Release and promotion

On 12 July 2025, Flume announced via social media that he would soon be releasing a new single. The song's title, featured artist, cover art and release date were revealed three days later and "Lighter" was made available to pre-order on digital download services and pre-save on streaming services, alongside the release of a teaser trailer for the song. The cover art shows a photo of Flume and AJ that was taken on the set of the song's music video shoot, in front of a red and white background. "Lighter" was released for digital download and streaming by Future Classic on 30 July 2025. An accompanying lyric video was released to Flume's YouTube channel on the same day. The day after the release of "Lighter", Flume and AJ performed the song during a live streamed launch party.

## Critical reception

"Lighter" was met with positive reviews from music critics. The staff of Sports Playlists liked the song's "infectious chorus" and they praised AJ's "memorable verse", which "[punctuates] the track’s bubbling, sugary melodies". They concluded that the song "[reaffirms Flume's] position as one of the AU's biggest breakout producer talents of the [year]". Sean Evans of Back To The Movies claimed that the song "[shines] a light on an otherwise dark 2025". He acclaimed that AJ's verse is "well-constructed and perfectly matched to the song at hand". Evans praised AJ's "[evolution] as a lyricist" and found it "refreshing to see that some serious thought [had been] put into [his] words and their alternative meanings". Oliver Tryon of CULTR noted that "AJ's signature rapping... [allows] for an injection of rhyming energy that allows for a refreshing sound overall". Tryon remarked, "[AJ] is yet to feature on a house record, and after this result, we need to see it again." Robin Murray of *Clash* called the song "a clinical banger for those looking to unload [COVID-19] lockdown energy" and proclaimed that it "could well be a summer smash [hit]". "Lighter" was dubbed "one of the hits of the summer" by the staff of *Promonews*.

## Music video

The music video for "Lighter" was directed by Troy Roscoe. It was filmed at two locations on the Gold Coast on 20 June 2025, across a 13-hour shoot. The music video was released to AJ's YouTube channel on 24 July 2025. AJ released a reaction video, in which he and Flume watch and react to the music video, to YouTube one week later. A behind-the-scenes video of the music video shoot was released to Flume's YouTube channel on 7 August 2025, followed by a bloopers video being released to AJ's YouTube channel one week later.

The music video opens with a cast, comprising Flume, AJ, S-X and Window Kid, playing poker. But when an overconfident AJ goes all-in and comes a cropper, he is stung into challenging his fellow group members to compete at other sports, leading to the group playing basketball and football. The group, who are accompanied by a coach, start out completely useless at both sports, but their on-court skills start to improve upon the arrival of a young woman, with the group competing for her affection. The video ends with closing credits. The staff of *Promonews* described the music video as a "suitably light-hearted take on sporting achievement", which "captures the [group's] sporting incompetence like a big budget Nike [advert]" and "does a great job [at] showcasing AJ's big personality and the camaraderie among the group". Reflecting on the music video shoot, Flume said, "It was a genuinely fun project. It was just a jokes day. All the reactions on camera [were genuine]. It was genuine fun. And that's what makes the video match the song."

## Commercial performance

In Australia, "Lighter" was the country's most downloaded song in its first week of release. It earned the highest new entry on the ARIA Singles Chart, debuting at number one. It spent eight weeks at number one and spent a total of 22 weeks on the chart. The song also peaked at number four on the RMNZ Singles Chart. The ARIA reported that "Lighter" was the AU's 40th highest-selling and 32nd most-downloaded song of 2025, as well as the country's fifth highest-selling dance song of 2025.

In Ireland, "Lighter" debuted at number eight on the Irish Singles Chart and spent a total of 18 weeks on the chart. Across the rest of the world, "Lighter" charted in the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States. In the United States, the song debuted at number 100 on the offical Billboard Top 100 Singles Chart and spent a total of one week on the chart. On 12 May 2026, *Staffordshire Live* reported that "Lighter" has received more than 136 million global streams.

## Charts

### Weekly Charts

 Australia (ARIA)
 United States (RIAA)
 Australia (OCC)
 Ireland (IRMA)
 Germany (BVMI)

### Year-end Charts

 Australia (ARIA)
 Ireland (IRMA)

## Certifications

 New Zealand (RMNZ)
 United Kingdom (OCC)
 Ireland (IRMA)