“On June 29, Demi threw a house party and we made a music video. This is what happened.”

That’s the caption overlaid at the beginning of the music video for Demi Lovato‘s “Sorry Not Sorry,” the first single from her sixth (already? She’s still only 25) album, Tell Me You Love Me. If the video’s any indication, it was one hell of a party. But Demi, where was my invite?

(Courtesy Universal Music Group)

After rocking out to 2015’s “Cool for the Summer,” which I loved, I first heard “Sorry Not Sorry” a couple months ago as Lovato was setting up the world for the unleashing of her newest album. But I was nonplussed. Or maybe I wasn’t – I just wasn’t…moved. It sounded bland and didn’t catch my ear; I disregarded it as a lesser track compared to the singles I remembered from her 2015 album, Confident, which featured its hit title track along with “Cool for the Summer” (and its third and final single, “Stone Cold”).

“Sorry Not Sorry” was released on July 11, 2017, which was around the time I first heard it. Fast forward to September 29 with the release of Tell Me You Love Me and I figured it was a good time to give it another spin.

Paying more attention to the track than I did before, it’s easier to see why it became such a big hit (it’s already charted higher than any of the singles on Confident, and it’s Lovato’s first top 10 entry since 2013’s “Heart Attack.”) It’s not designed to be a club banger like “Cool for the Summer” was…it’s more a vocal showcase for Lovato’s surprisingly strong pipes, hitting the highs while singing a chorus fit for a Sunday church singalong, complete with a choir-ready sound.

But a quick listen to the lyrics shows that’s not appropriate for church: “Payback is a bad bitch, And baby, I’m the baddest,” the song begins. And that’s the main theme of the track – revenge, payback, not being sorry.

Baby, I’m sorry (I’m not sorry)
Being so bad got me feelin’ so good
Showing you up like I knew that I would.

Lovato, looking stellar and showing plenty of skin in the music video, shakes off whatever may have happened between 2015 and 2017 (characters in the video reference songs from the past album during a few “asides”), creating an empowerment anthem that works well thanks to Demi’s strong vocal, which is quickly becoming her greatest asset.

It will be interesting to see how the song ultimately stacks up in her overall catalog. Tell Me You Love Me‘s power-ballad title track was released in November as the album’s second single.

In the meantime, check out that party you and I missed back on June 29. Not bad for girl who got her start on Barney and Friends.