Earlier today, British superstar Katie Melua released ‘A Love Like That,’ the first single off her upcoming album, ALBUM No. 8.

The single is smoky, slow and atmospheric, with a vibe fit for the soundtrack of a classic spy movie. A music video directed by Charlie Lightening accompanied the track’s release.

In the video, Melua acts out a relationship with Star Wars actor Billy Howle. The two trade loaded glances in a number of beautiful locations: at the seaside, near a ruined church and, most memorably, under moody red lights in an empty theatre.

Despite her onscreen romance and lyrics like “I want you for my only one,” Melua said she did not begin writing the song with a literal lover in mind.

“Before it became about love between a couple, it started its life centred on my relationship with work and the stamina required to keep being an artist in the music industry,” she said in a press release.

After Melua and co-composer Sam Dixon started work on the track, Melua said she “retreated to a cottage in the Cotswolds for 3 weeks to wrestle with the song’s lyrics.” It was there that the song took shape, beginning to ask “the essential timeless question about mad love, ‘How do you make a love like that last?’”

Melua, who was born in Tbilisi, also collaborated with drummer Emre Ramazanoglu, flautist Jack Pinter and the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra on the track.

Describing the experience of working with the orchestra, Producer Leo Abrahams said “The arrangement is written to convey the protagonist’s changing state of mind throughout the song: from turbulent to calm, sentimental to defiant.

“Technically this was probably the simplest arrangement on the record but we had to do almost 20 takes of the tremolando introduction to get the right amount of aggression but with an elegant resolution.”

‘A Love Like That’ is only the latest release in Melua’s long and distinguished career. Melua has released seven top-ten albums, including her platinum debut, Call Off The Search, which came out when she was only 19.

Katie Melua is set to release ALBUM No. 8 on October 16. ‘A Love Like That’ is available on all major platforms, and its music video is linked below.