Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism

[Eqbk]

Not really a fan of the extended version overall, which is a shame b/c I do like the extended versions of the singles. I don't mind the idea of simply extending a song with just the instrumental and/or repeating a portion of the song but it has to be done right. Often times, it felt like the wrong part of the song was extended and/or they would loop/repeat a part of a song excessively and disrupt the flow of the song. "These Walls" is sadly the biggest offender of this. That one honestly sounds fan-made and is badly edited/spliced together.

That said, the extended version made me really appreciate how good the instrumentation on this album is. I definitely pay more attention to it when listening to the regular version now. Among the non-single tracks, the stand-out is definitely "Whatcha Doing". It has some of the same issues that the other songs do (though to a lesser degree) but I loved the flourishes in the intro/outro. I also found it hilarious that despite being over 6 minutes long, "Falling Forever" still starts with her belting even though almost all the other songs start with an extended instrumental.

Jun 28, 2024 12:24:28 GMT -5 Choco said:

I'm hoping they move on now. Feels like there's no point. I love FF but it doesn't strike me as the type of song that could revive an entire campaign at this point. We're about to hit July and she's hardly making any noise.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

^ I mean they’re not gonna say “eh could be better” but it’s so clear her stuff builds slowly vs hits out of the gate. Houdini has the benefit of time and “it’s so great the album is out” is such a none comment lol but given how she’s always slowly stacked numbers I believe the sentiment.

The extended album sucks exactly for the reasons described above, more elongated than extended.

Glastonbury was a peak for her by all accounts, haven’t watched it yet but given the “flop” narrative I was ready for some harsh reviews but it’s exactly the opposite.

This album has stuck with me. It suffered in the shadow of FN but it really works for me as a throw it on summer album which is enough for me.

[thezatch]

Jun 29, 2024 0:35:54 GMT -5 #brayden said:

I complain about songs being too short these days but she really said "here's longer versions of each song and also we added nothing" for the extended versions. I like the extended version of "Training Season" but almost everything else just feels like it's longer for the sake of being longer.

That's exactly how I feel about the extended album too. Even some of the extensions cutting into the flow of the verses make NO sense whatsoever, "These Walls" for just one example.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

Jun 29, 2024 15:44:23 GMT -5 thezatch said:

Jun 29, 2024 0:35:54 GMT -5 #brayden said:

I complain about songs being too short these days but she really said "here's longer versions of each song and also we added nothing" for the extended versions. I like the extended version of "Training Season" but almost everything else just feels like it's longer for the sake of being longer.

That's exactly how I feel about the extended album too. Even some of the extensions cutting into the flow of the verses make NO sense whatsoever, "These Walls" for just one example.

There are a couple of bits on These Walls that genuinely sound like errors - lazy.

[felipe]

I don't think the label should give up on this era or just "wrap it up" like some people are suggesting. She still has a tour, she'll be performing these tracks for a while still and we're most likely a long time from the next era, so I'd say the label should keep it going. There's clearly still demand for her from GP, it's just that these songs haven't particularly connected. I'd say release a 4th single that seems like a slight switch in sound, like Falling Forever. Nothings in the album really sounds like a hit, at least FF would serve as a palate cleanser. Then, in about 4 months announce a re-release of the album with an actual banger. By then people will be ready for new Dua Lipa music.

Take Beyoncé, for instance. She was flopping during her B'Day era. Deja Vu, Ring the Alarm, Listen had all flopped. And then she released Irreplaceable, which turned out to be her biggest hit up to that point. Imagine if they had given up on the album.

[Ivy Leegue™]

As much as I hate the TikTokification of music, LMFAO at every extended version of the songs on the album outside of the singles. Like...why? Even with stellar production, I realize this wasn't necessary because it wasn't executed well. Having her start to sing a verse or chorus and then leave it hanging for an instrumental break definitely makes this version sound fan-made.

[Juan Carlos]

Headline show at Wembley Stadium next June. Tour announcement (full-scale tour across America) in the following days, implying that she's doing stadiums this time. That said, I don't think she's going to announce stadium tour dates in the US, but she could do that in Latin America.

[Juan Carlos]

Officially announced.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C85FrxnMEp9

[felipe]

Next June? Is this a special concert or why are they announcing it so early?

[gbaby]

The Extended Version clicks so much more than the OG. Glad to have it!

[Juan Carlos]

Following her Glastonbury headlining performance last Friday, Dua gets all of her three studio albums inside the Top 10 in the UK, being Radical Optimism at #3, Future Nostalgia at #8 and Dua Lipa at #10. In terms of singles, "Illusion" climbs back from #36 to #25, "Houdini" re-enters at #38 and "Training Season" does the same at #83.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9DDX4esdMc

[Juan Carlos]

Jul 1, 2024 15:28:41 GMT -5 felipe said:

Next June? Is this a special concert or why are they announcing it so early?

No, it's not a special concert. The Wembley Stadium date is part of the Radical Optimism tour, which is expected to take her to the road next year as well. Why did she announce this date so early? To take advantage of her Glastonbury performance last week, so it makes me think that the rest of the EU dates will be around June of next year and they will be announced in the following weeks too.

[felipe]

Jul 6, 2024 14:33:43 GMT -5 Juan Carlos said:

Jul 1, 2024 15:28:41 GMT -5 felipe said:

Next June? Is this a special concert or why are they announcing it so early?

No, it's not a special concert. The Wembley Stadium date is part of the Radical Optimism tour, which is expected to take her to the road next year as well. Why did she announce this date so early? To take advantage of her Glastonbury performance last week, so it makes me think that the rest of the EU dates will be around June of next year and they will be announced in the following weeks too.

So the tour is not actually this year?

[Juan Carlos]

Jul 6, 2024 16:23:57 GMT -5 felipe said:

Jul 6, 2024 14:33:43 GMT -5 Juan Carlos said:

No, it's not a special concert. The Wembley Stadium date is part of the Radical Optimism tour, which is expected to take her to the road next year as well. Why did she announce this date so early? To take advantage of her Glastonbury performance last week, so it makes me think that the rest of the EU dates will be around June of next year and they will be announced in the following weeks too.

So the tour is not actually this year?

Dua is touring this year and she will be doing next year too. Five EU dates this year (the ones in Germany, Croatia, the UK and two in France) were available if people pre-ordered the album in those countries. They were given a code to be used in the pre-sale of them. The rest of EU dates (including Glastonbury) and the two US dates are from festivals. Although all of these shows are part from the tour, they could be labelled as the warm-up dates, while the Asian tour dates, which begin in November of this year, are a leg of the tour.

If it's taken into consideration that the Wembley Stadium date was already announced to be in June of next year, it's safe to say that Dua will be touring Europe again during that month (earlier or later), with another dates in America and Oceania to be next year as well.

[Khia]

I liked the extended versions for the most part (These Walls extended is borderline unlistenable though lol), but I haven't revisited them because I've gotten back into the original version over the past week and had it on repeat. This album truly has no skips for me, and I've had pretty much every track stuck in my head at some point over the past few days. Just a really tight, cohesive album, possibly better than FN since there isn't a Boys Will Be Boys dragging it down.

[Juan Carlos]

New Wembley Stadium date (June 21) has been announced. The previously announced one (June 20) is sold out.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9UTFN5sK0I

[Juan Carlos]

Second Wembley Stadium date is also sold out.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9VVvZosi8p

[PGriffin]

She might have a flop album, but flop tour?!?! NEVER!!

[nobodynobody]

Based on recent comments by her team, i think they are playing the long (really long) game here. Obviously she still has many years left as an it pop girl, i don't doubt that shes gonna have many hits in the future, but shes clearly on a path to become a tour artist, shes on the way to be more of a Pink, less of a Christina/Britney/Rihanna/Katy.
There are not a lot of women legacy acts, even less on the pop-sphere. Cher? Celine? Beyonce*? Madonna?
And obvs, when i say “tour artist”, i mean people that are able to have one of the top tours of the year even without current hits.
Lets obviously add Taylor (in the future) to that list and thats about it.
The fact that she has been prioritizing live shows/performances this era says a lot, and selling out 2 nights at Wembley demonstrate that things are working out just fine….

[miserygame]

Jul 16, 2024 17:46:13 GMT -5 nobodynobody said:

Based on recent comments by her team, i think they are playing the long (really long) game here. Obviously she still has many years left as an it pop girl, i don't doubt that shes gonna have many hits in the future, but shes clearly on a path to become a tour artist, shes on the way to be more of a Pink, less of a Christina/Britney/Rihanna/Katy.
There are not a lot of women legacy acts, even less on the pop-sphere. Cher? Celine? Beyonce*? Madonna?
And obvs, when i say “tour artist”, i mean people that are able to have one of the top tours of the year even without current hits.
Lets obviously add Taylor (in the future) to that list and thats about it.
The fact that she has been prioritizing live shows/performances this era says a lot, and selling out 2 nights at Wembley demonstrate that things are working out just fine….

and well, that makes sense... artists these days make more money selling tour tickets than records, so it's very smart for her team to do so. i do see her career becoming a P!nk.

[Juan Carlos]

👀

[Juan Carlos]

Radical Optimism has been certified gold (unit sales in excess of 100k) in the UK. Also, "Houdini" has been certified platinum (unit sales in excess of 600k) and "Future Nostalgia" (the song) has been certified silver (unit sales in excess of 200k).

[Choco]

I'm still really liking the extended versions. The singles + "Happy for You" + "These Walls" + "Falling Forever" in particular.

[Juan Carlos]

New announcement (possibly an advertisement) with Porsche is coming on July 24.

[Juan Carlos]

Porsche advertisement out this Wednesday at 8am. PT / 11am. ET / 4pm. BST.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9sGMMWtpcZ

[JJ]

Doesn't she have anything attached to the Olympics? She seems like the perfect fit for it. Maybe closing the ceremonies?

[miserygame]

Jul 22, 2024 12:55:00 GMT -5 JJ said:

Doesn't she have anything attached to the Olympics? She seems like the perfect fit for it. Maybe closing the ceremonies?

there are rumours she's performing at the opening ceremony, it's been all over the french media, we don't know for sure, meanwhile, she's literally the queen of france, DL3 has been over performing in the french market so far

[Juan Carlos]

New BTS teaser from the Porsche ad.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9xPmThsmxl

[bat1990]

Jul 22, 2024 16:31:31 GMT -5 miserygame said:

Jul 22, 2024 12:55:00 GMT -5 JJ said:

Doesn't she have anything attached to the Olympics? She seems like the perfect fit for it. Maybe closing the ceremonies?

there are rumours she's performing at the opening ceremony, it's been all over the french media, we don't know for sure, meanwhile, she's literally the queen of france, DL3 has been over performing in the french market so far

I'm surprised they chose "Falling Forever" over "French Exit" as the rumored 4th single then, lol. Maybe she'll re-record some of the songs en francais for the deluxe. Or duet with Angele again.

[miserygame]

Jul 23, 2024 12:07:06 GMT -5 bat1990 said:

Jul 22, 2024 16:31:31 GMT -5 miserygame said:

there are rumours she's performing at the opening ceremony, it's been all over the french media, we don't know for sure, meanwhile, she's literally the queen of france, DL3 has been over performing in the french market so far

I'm surprised they chose "Falling Forever" over "French Exit" as the rumored 4th single then, lol. Maybe she'll re-record some of the songs en francais for the deluxe. Or duet with Angele again.

Probably,  all of her DL3 material has been massive hits in France so far. Houdini, Diamond and Training Season recently went Platinum, while "Radical Optimism" was certified Gold last week. The album has been consistently stable in the French top 15 since its release, and she's been dominating French radio throughout 2024 with Houdini and Training Season. If she performs at the Olympics opening ceremony, it would be a significant boost for her in the French market, similar to the impact of Glastonbury in the UK. She might even do a recording with Angèle by the end of the year. We'll see, you don't know with her new mgmt haha, she's def pulling two tour dates at the Stade du france  AT LEAST, the french love her.