Dua Lipa just released her latest album Radical Optimism and delivers the same pop-girl energy she’s been giving since her start.
Lipa won the Grammy for best new artist in 2019, after a four-year stretch that saw her release a debut album to critical and commercial success and then emerge as a radio mainstay with the supremely catchy single “New Rules.” But it was 2020’s Future Nostalgia that solidified Lipa’s place in pop music: She was a proven hitmaker.
With her latest release, the singer brings more of the same. Is that a bad thing? No. Well, maybe. The album’s lead single “Houdini” did fairly well commercially, peaking at 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and garnering positive critical acclaim. The track very much has the dancehall pop vibe that carried Dua Lipa’s success thus far featuring a catchy hook “Catch me or I go Houdini.” Though, following the massive success of Future Nostalgia and equally massive Barbie hit “Dance The Night,” much of Radical Optimism doesn’t evolve from what we’ve already heard.
It might be unfair to say the singles from RO are dull, but while being great pop tracks- the rhythms and themes do little to differentiate themselves. Having three singles on top of “Dance The Night” could have been monumental in the promotional cycle for the record, yet the excitement seemed to fall short.
Lipa worked with Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker on parts of the album and the collaboration seems to work in many ways. Just about all of the record can see potential radio success if chosen to be lifted as a single. By now, the 28-year-old has shown she has no trouble creating an ear-worm, the struggle just seems to be which tracks should she promote.
“These Walls” would have been a good single to join “Houdini,” to kick this era into gear. “It’s not supposed to hurt his much, If these walls could talk, they’d tell us to break up,” she sings on the track. While being a great summer pop tune in general, “These Walls” has enough structure to carry itself without being shadowed by the wave of single preceding it.
The album does have a strong finish with “Anything For Love,” Maria” and “Happy For You” leaving you wanting more. The album surely has highlights throughout, but finds itself getting lost in repetition. “Anything For Love” finally changes the pace drastically, opening with Dua’s raw vocals in ballad form before reintroducing more synth beats. The slight break from the synthetics gave the album a restart just moments too late.
“Happy For You” is another leading candidate for the album’s standout. Its quite slow compared to the album’s singles, but does a better job at portraying the idea of Radical Optimism. Perhaps, a bit too slow for a lead single, but paired with “These Walls” and “Houdini,” “Happy For You” could’ve helped this album truly stand on its own feet.
Trying to stay optimistic, I will say the album is a good entry in Dua’s discography. I think it’s flaws come in the form of repetition and poor promotional choices. It seems to draw many of the same criticisms as Taylor Swifts’s recent release The Tortured Poets Department, and that isn’t the worst company to be in.
