g1 Listened – Dua Lipa’s new album
A lot of people like to say — with a hint of malice — that all of Dua Lipa’s songs are the same. It’s not quite like that. On the new album “Radical Optimism”, released this Friday (3), she changes her sound… not exactly for the better.
But by releasing “Houdini” and “Training Season”, first singles from her third work, the artist found herself under a barrage of comments pointing out too many similarities in her repertoire. She responded to “Time” magazine:
“I’m a different person, so of course this album is going to be different. I have different thoughts, desires, needs and perspectives.”
Let’s go in parts: in “Radical Optimism”, the singer continues, yes, enjoying the well-crafted formula of empowered lyrics about relationships, with retro dance beats.
But the album really sounds different: while “Future Nostalgia” had a well-defined focus — reimagining the dance music of the 70s and 80s with a current packaging –, the new album is a bit lost, confusing.
In interviews, Dua defined “Radical Optimism” as a work centered on UK rave culture with touches of psychedelic pop and 1990s Britpop, from bands like Oasis.
The psychedelic part has to do with the production of Kevin Parker, the creative leader of the excellent indie rock band Tame Impala. His influence is clear in songs like “Whatcha Doing”, with a mesmerizing introduction and a funkier sound.
Britpop appears, very lightly, in the acoustic guitar of “These Walls”, a less danceable track with space for Dua to sing as if she were at a luau on the beach — whoever picks up the guitar at this type of party is unlikely to escape an Oasis hit .
In general, however, these references appear very, very diluted on the album, with melodies that are more reminiscent of 1970s European pop by the Swedish band ABBA.
In the lyrics, Dua Lipa continues to talk about misadventures in romantic encounters: the pains and delights of single life. In “Anything for Love”, she reflects on the never-ending search for a solid relationship: “Remember when we used to do anything for love?” she asks.
In “Houdini”, he challenges a date to prove that he deserves his attention, before it disappears like magic. And in “End of an Era”, the first of 11 songs, she projects a hasty “happily ever after”, rhyming “pleasure” with “together” and “forever”.
She’s an artist who manages to keep a low profile at a time when blurring boundaries between music and personal life has become pop’s most lucrative business. Taking a “low profile” stance defies the laws of the market, and some artists have managed to deliver concepts without delivering gossip: Beyoncé and Frank Ocean are some examples.
But Dua Lipa hasn’t found her footing yet. Their songs lack face and identity. The stories are so superficial that it is difficult to identify with anything.
In “Radical Optimism”, the only verses that stand out are those of “Maria”, a tribute to his current ex. Over a striking bass line, she sings the fine line between respect and fixation for her antagonist. “Maria, I know you’re gone, but I feel you when we’re alone.”
Good thing, Dua’s third album also has the singer’s strong voice shining in “Falling Forever”, a very classic pop, without pretension, but with a shouted chorus that will work very well live — in June, she will be one of the main attractions of the Glastonbury festival, in England.
And Parker’s psychedelic touch, the album’s main trademark, gives strangeness and complexity to some arrangements. But it doesn’t make “Radical Optimism” a profound album. Pop doesn’t always have to be, right? Sometimes it’s just really good music to listen to at the gym.
