A couple of months following his two previous featured collaborations with The Weeknd on the tracks "I Was Never There" and "Hurt You" from the artist's 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy, Gesaffelstein released the lead single "Reset" from his second studio album Hyperion. Following the release of the single in November 2018, both artists coincidentally began to independently tease fans about their upcoming projects, with The Weeknd sharing various shots of himself working in the studio through social media platforms and Gesaffelstein sharing images of possible artwork from Hyperion through billboards and his respective social media accounts. A week following New Year's of 2019, both Gesaffelstein and The Weeknd announced a collaborative single titled "Lost in the Fire", with both artist's posting more shots of the song's music video until the song's release on 11 January 2019.
Lyrics and controversies
Charles Holmes of Rolling Stone described the song's lyrics as being that of "your straightforward Weeknd song, riding the line between epic love and neurotic lust as he tends to do." He also mentions how in the song Tesfaye is mourning the loss of a partner in one verse, while on the next he's promising to sexually satisfy his partner. It's speculated that one of the women the song refers to is his current girlfriend, model Bella Hadid. The lyrics "And I just want a baby with the right one/’Cause I could never be the one to hide one" are perceived by Holmes to be a diss at Drake regarding the controversial reveal of his son that occurred as a result of the rap feud between him and Pusha T. Other authors saw the possibility of the lyrics being a shot at the rapper as well. The second verse of the song, with the lines "You said you might be into girls, said you're going through a phase/Keeping your heart safe/Well, baby, you can bring a friend/She can ride on top your face/While I fuck you straight", also caused controversy. The lines were called homophobic and misogynistic, and were accused by some of fetishizing bisexuality and perpetuating the falsehood that a person can be "turned straight", while others have instead speculated this is referring to her body being positioned straight during the sexual act, or even both.
Critical reception
"Lost in the Fire" was ranked as the 31st best dance song of the first half of 2019 by Billboard. On a statement discussing the single's position on the list, Kat Bein described the song as being a "steamy, slinky, foul-mouthed bedroom banger built on sci-fi synth work and midnight moods." She also compared the song's production to that of Daft Punk and complemented Gesaffelstein's new metallic look in the visuals for the song and its parent album.
Music videos
After being teased by an 11-second teaser on 7 January 2019, two accompanying music videos were released alongside the single on 11 January 2019. The first of the two was a Spotify-exclusive vertical video, which was placed at the top of the streaming service's own 'Today's Top Hits' playlist following the song's release. The second of the two was the official music video for the single, which was released on Gesaffelstein's YouTube channel like the previously aforementioned teaser. It features The Weeknd performing various dance moves and poses throughout scenes accompanied by a dark background with Gesaffelstein standing idle alongside him. Critics noted the video as being dark and fashionable. It was directed by Manu Cossu. The song's vertical video was later uploaded to Gesaffelstein's YouTube channel on 11 February 2019.
