Review | Dua Lipa navigates highs and lows with album ‘Radical Optimism’

In just a few years of his career, Dua Lipa turned into a powerhouse like no other. Officially debuting in 2017 with his eponymous album and conquering the world with the great track “New Rules” – staying true to aesthetics mainstream which dominated the charts at the time, but presenting a passionate originality that, shortly afterwards, would earn him the Grammy for New artist. In 2020, the British-Albanian artist reached a new level on the music scene with the acclaimed ‘Future Nostalgia’easily one of the best albums of the decade and which was responsible, alongside other productions, for the return of disco It’s from dance.

Of course, considering the profound impact the singer-songwriter has made since her debutwe couldn’t be more excited for their upcoming third compilation of originals: titled ‘Radical Optimism’the album, lasting just over half an hour, would remain faithful to the escapist and hedonistic aesthetic explored in the previous forays, placing its bets on an invitation to the dance floor and in constructions upbeat which automatically fall into popular taste. Now, if there is anyone today to whom we can attribute the maximum “pop perfection”that someone is Dua Lipa – but what would happen if performer faced constant repetitions to tell us their stories?

Both previous albums became massive critical and public successes, establishing themselves as the most listened to on Spotify and reiterating the enviable power she holds in contemporary times. To promote the new album, Dua gifted us with three solid singles: “Houdini”moved by a celebratory nu-disco It is electro-house; “Training Season”without a shadow of a doubt one of the highlights of his career to date, with a hook passionate and heartbreaking; It is “Illusion”a measured Casa, Lar classic that sought inspiration from names like Kylie Minogue It is Melanie C. Of course, we would be excited to hear what she had kept under lock and key until the release of the compilation – and the result, despite being practical and functional, and remaining faithful to the identity established in previous years, is somewhat repetitive and a little disappointing.

It must be said that the first half of the project is convincing in its entirety, starting with the fun opening track “End Of An Era”which stands on a dance-pop gum and which demonstrates the themes with which Dua will work: self-preservation, emotional liberation and personal maturity – very interesting choices, considering that she had surrendered in the not too distant past to the reflections of love and festive desires. “These Walls”the best entry of this brief musical journey after “Training Season”is designed with extreme caution and, in addition to drawing powerful vocals from the singer, allows her to navigate through a plot midtempo of separation into a welcome melancholy that reiterates some contrasts.

Among the other highlights of production, we can mention “Whatcha Doing”which plays with incursions from electro-funk with the tambourine and an impactful bass to take us on a trip back in time to the 1990s – although the choices in the chorus sound a little strange; “Maria”taking references from EDM and from folktronica explored by names like Avicii At the beginning of the 2010s, the loose ends left by the tracks previous ones to a satisfying conclusion that explodes into the power pop in “Happy For You”. It’s remarkable how Dua, teaming up with a considerable team of producers and composers, does as much as possible to please her fans – but, at a certain point, we realize that something is missing.

The truth is, as the short tracks come to an end, ‘Radical Optimism’even if you move away ‘Future Nostalgia’ in terms of sound and progression, it resembles a afterthought, a corollary of discards that, in fact, could have been better worked on. This becomes clear in three iterations: “French Exit”whose good intentions are tarnished by a sedentary and childish lyric; “Falling Forever” is a sum of great pieces that don’t fit together: on the one hand, a production based on synthesizers and drums and, on the other, a rendition that would be more suitable within a ballad construction – and everything becomes even clearer when we arrive at chorus; It is “Anything for Love” is wasted on a drastic change of style that doesn’t make any sense.

If the idea of popism was hot with Dua Lipa in recent memory and even early in the promotion of her third album, here she seems not comfortable enough to bring the vulnerability we expected in order to connect more to her persona. Make no mistake: the compilation is far from bad, but it is notable how it could have been designed with more structure to guarantee the same freshness of originality as it has already done.

Note per track:

1. End of an Era – 3.5/5
2. Houdini – 4/5
3. Training Season – 5/5
4. These Walls – 5/5
5. Whatcha Doing – 4.5/5
6. French Exit – 2/5
7. Illusion – 4/5
8. Falling Forever – 2.5/5
9. Anything for Love – 1/5
10. Maria – 3.5/5
11. Happy for You – 3/5