Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism

[PopLuva]

This album wont do well in the US at all. Im starting to wonder if she had a bulk of the album finished before recording Houdini and the label needed that one first single and it was recorded last. Its the most commercial song on the album.

I cant imagine how many more singles they'll give her she's already on single 3 with no big hit! Nothing stood out to me as the next single but after listening id say it would be between; these walls, whatcha doing, falling forever.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

May 2, 2024 6:51:46 GMT -5 Maximillian said:

May 1, 2024 23:44:28 GMT -5 Juan Carlos said:

This is the X/Twitter account which posted that and I found interesting that this Facebook account, basically, copied and pasted it, which is indeed false, lol.

I mean, if the promotion budget has been considerably reduced, how is it possible that Warner make her to do a SNL double duty on 5/4 in the US, a BBC One and Radio 1 Live Lounge on 5/6 and 5/7, respectively, in the UK, interviews and photoshoots to magazines to come out during the album's release week and dropping teasers of the songs from the album ahead of its release around the world (UK / The Netherlands / Brazil / Italy / Australia / Japan / France / US? It doesn't make any sense in my opinion.

While I certainly hope it’s false and want this to succeed for her, her name alone can get SNL, some radio hype and radio interviews. Magazines would have been done well in advance and also free to Warner. A good team and a good name can do wonders without a huge budget these days.

I assume this is more in relation to actual paid digital and print marketing of the album (but as you said, it’s false, so probably nothing to worry on).

Based on the comments from that post, it does seem the GP has felt similar to most in this thread. I'm concerned that even false rumors might turn into reality, and if this album isn’t performing to expectations, I can see a world that Warner does “wrap it up” fast. To be honest, I can’t imagine Warner is thrilled with the performance so far (even though it’s not subpar by any level for most artists, it’s likely below what *they* want).

I imagine release week will underperform on sales, and Warner will get her back to the studio so there can be an extended release with new tracks and a more FN sound, so they can get one big hit, and then get her on tour.

Dua’s career isn’t in danger at all, but I think this will be fascinating to watch play out from a business side of things. Kinda similar to Camila’s Romance era - it did *fine*, but label felt it was low for her, so they packaged on “Senorita” to the album, sent her back to studio, dropped “My Oh My” (which was more in line with the sound her audience liked), got the #1 hit and moved on so they could call it a “success” on paper to shareholders.

I can see the label shifting gears on certain things but that post SCREAMS fake. Sure the singles haven't done amazingly well and I'm sure it's a topic of discussion, but she has two huge albums behind her and a bunch of one-off tracks, plus Dance the Night. There's no way they'd just call it lol.

[Ling-Ling]

I've been spinning this all day, I like it and it's a solid album. Thankfully nothing on it is bad, but something is definitely missing/off? First off, tonally the album sounds nothing like "Houdini" or "Training Season." Both of those tracks have a cold, polished sleekness that don't match the rest of the album, which is mostly bright and summery. They sound so jarring, not sure where they would make sense in the track-list. But they're both top-tier pop songs and two of my favs, so I can't be too mad about them being included?

"These Walls," and "French Exit" are nice changes of pace. "Whatcha Doing" and "Illusion" are the closest to FN, but they have enough elements to separate them. The chorus to "Illusion" is still majorly lacking though. "Anything For Love" is painfully undercooked, it could have been something interesting, but the actual song is under two minutes and not fleshed out at all. "Maria" and "Falling Forever" are both great, but they're missing that extra oomph to take them all the way home. The production on "Maria" needed to be pushed further and the bridge on "Falling Forever" needed to launch (love hearing her belt out on "FF" though, we don't get that a lot from her). "End Of An Era" makes sense as the opener given the overall vibes, but following it up with "Houdini" is bizarre. "Happy For You" hasn't made a strong impression with me, but it's nice, will probably get better with more listens.

With all the material she worked on, I feel like there may be two albums. The album that "Houdini" and "Training Season" make sense on and then this one. It's a shame Warner and her team dropped the ball so bad though. "Houdini" could have been a bigger moment, but releasing it during Xmas season with no promo was beyond dumb. Should have been a first quarter drop with a full-tilt promo blitz.

[Maximillian]

May 2, 2024 12:17:24 GMT -5 HEADOFTHEPACK said:

May 2, 2024 6:51:46 GMT -5 Maximillian said:

While I certainly hope it’s false and want this to succeed for her, her name alone can get SNL, some radio hype and radio interviews. Magazines would have been done well in advance and also free to Warner. A good team and a good name can do wonders without a huge budget these days.

I assume this is more in relation to actual paid digital and print marketing of the album (but as you said, it’s false, so probably nothing to worry on).

Based on the comments from that post, it does seem the GP has felt similar to most in this thread. I'm concerned that even false rumors might turn into reality, and if this album isn’t performing to expectations, I can see a world that Warner does “wrap it up” fast. To be honest, I can’t imagine Warner is thrilled with the performance so far (even though it’s not subpar by any level for most artists, it’s likely below what *they* want).

I imagine release week will underperform on sales, and Warner will get her back to the studio so there can be an extended release with new tracks and a more FN sound, so they can get one big hit, and then get her on tour.

Dua’s career isn’t in danger at all, but I think this will be fascinating to watch play out from a business side of things. Kinda similar to Camila’s Romance era - it did *fine*, but label felt it was low for her, so they packaged on “Senorita” to the album, sent her back to studio, dropped “My Oh My” (which was more in line with the sound her audience liked), got the #1 hit and moved on so they could call it a “success” on paper to shareholders.

I can see the label shifting gears on certain things but that post SCREAMS fake. Sure the singles haven't done amazingly well and I'm sure it's a topic of discussion, but she has two huge albums behind her and a bunch of one-off tracks, plus Dance the Night. There's no way they'd just call it lol.

I agree the post / source is fake. I also never said "call it off". I just think these convos likely *are* happening (my personal opinion) and that the label likely will push an extended release with new songs to revitalize the era at some point, or taper down the era and put her on tour. I hope they do give this the "Camila" treatment, as I am now calling it, and push an extended album with a new single that hits harder than the others this era.

[Ivy Leegue™]

May 2, 2024 13:11:08 GMT -5 Ling-Ling said:

"Anything For Love" is painfully undercooked, it could have been something interesting, it's under two minutes and not fleshed out at all.

Not that a track length of 2:22 is anything to be proud of really, but is it possible you didn't hear the full song if what you are hearinig is under 2 minutes? Or is Wikipedia wrong?

[Ling-Ling]

May 2, 2024 13:47:15 GMT -5 Ivy Leegue™ said:

May 2, 2024 13:11:08 GMT -5 Ling-Ling said:

"Anything For Love" is painfully undercooked, it could have been something interesting, it's under two minutes and not fleshed out at all.

Not that a track length of 2:22 is anything to be proud of really, but is it possible you didn't hear the full song if what you are hearinig is under 2 minutes? Or is Wikipedia wrong?

The first twenty seconds is just random people chatting. And then there's more chatting at the end, so the actual song itself is under two.

[Ivy Leegue™]

May 2, 2024 13:51:17 GMT -5 Ling-Ling said:

May 2, 2024 13:47:15 GMT -5 Ivy Leegue™ said:

Not that a track length of 2:22 is anything to be proud of really, but is it possible you didn't hear the full song if what you are hearinig is under 2 minutes? Or is Wikipedia wrong?

The first twenty seconds is just random people chatting. And then there's more chatting at the end, so the actual song itself is under two.

Terrible. That should be called an interlude, not a song.

[SHOOTER]

Falling Forever is the only track that fell flat for me (mainly because of her Macy Gray-esque wailing that does her voice a disservice in my headphones) but I thoroughly enjoyed the entire listen and can see this one being in rotation for months on end a la FN — even if it doesn’t show dramatic growth or evolution in sound from there. Kevin Parker as EP and stretching the limits could’ve made things far more interesting.

[nightshade]

I can't get over Falling Forever. It is everything I wanted and more from the album.
I am going to say that I wish she didn't describe the album because if there's one thing I can count on is for artist's to fail at describing their albums properly.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

May 2, 2024 13:29:23 GMT -5 Maximillian said:

May 2, 2024 12:17:24 GMT -5 HEADOFTHEPACK said:

I can see the label shifting gears on certain things but that post SCREAMS fake. Sure the singles haven't done amazingly well and I'm sure it's a topic of discussion, but she has two huge albums behind her and a bunch of one-off tracks, plus Dance the Night. There's no way they'd just call it lol.

I agree the post / source is fake. I also never said "call it off". I just think these convos likely *are* happening (my personal opinion) and that the label likely will push an extended release with new songs to revitalize the era at some point, or taper down the era and put her on tour. I hope they do give this the "Camila" treatment, as I am now calling it, and push an extended album with a new single that hits harder than the others this era.

Oh yeah I’m more targeting the post itself, not your take on it!

[born]

1. End Of An Era (6.5/10)
2. Houdini (10/10)
3. Training Season (9/10)
4. These Walls (7.5/10)
5. Whatcha Doing (7.5/10)
6. French Exit (5.5/10)
7. Illusion (9/10)
8. Falling Forever (7/10)
9. Anything For Love (6.5/10)
10. Maria (7.5/10)
11. Happy For You (8/10)

This wasn't the album I was hoping for, after the first two singles and the descriptions she was giving in her interviews. Might grow on me though.

[Love Plastic Love]

Everything I've heard sounds ok/good, but like...kind of just there rather than amazing or as hooky as some of her other stuff. She said she doesn't ever want to get personal or sing about anything seriously, but I think it would help to take notes from certain eras of Kylie Minogue or even Britney Spears. Like, you don't have to make personal music to still insert some personality and emotion to elevate tracks. I don't know. Maybe that's not even the problem, but I'm having trouble understanding why it just feels like something is missing.

[beachboi69]

I was slightly worried about this and it's actually happening. The reviewers that are huge taylor swift fans are panning this album lol. 30/100 is absolutely not deserved when it's way better then Taylors panned album. It's insane.

Taylor swift had ruined anything being transparent.

[eyeofthestorm]

I am loving the album. The only songs I don't care for are 'Maria' and 'French Exit', and I could see them growing on me. This is will be my first Dua purchase and with everything I've been going through lately I needed this album. Good pop.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

Yeah I wanna know if Dua Lipa listened to the new Dua Lipa album before she described what it sounds like.

Only just finished a first listen so no comments or judgments yet, but we're definitely in well-produced summer Dua bop territory. Psychedelic? Rave? Britpop? Nowhere to be heard.

[Juan Carlos]

Opens with a score of 71 based on 7 critic reviews on Metacritic so far, including one of 100 from The Independent (UK) and another of 30 from The Line of Best Fit.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

May 2, 2024 19:42:02 GMT -5 HEADOFTHEPACK said:

Yeah I wanna know if Dua Lipa listened to the new Dua Lipa album before she described what it sounds like.

Only just finished a first listen so no comments or judgments yet, but we're definitely in well-produced summer Dua bop territory. Psychedelic? Rave? Britpop? Nowhere to be heard.

Ok that didn't last!

I agree that it's solid and I like the vibe, but the sound is surprising given how it's been described and presented for months. I expected something harder. Think that's also why the cover/photo shoot seemed odd when they landed (but now makes sense for the most part).

Ling-Ling said this, but yeah, Houdini/Training season don't sound like they're from the same album. Something either got lost along the way there or the direction shifted. No idea what's happening with Anything For Love either, sounds like a great track is getting started and then it just stops.

The campaign also started far, far too early. Completely unnecessary. Would have definitely benefited from a tighter run-up starting around awards season maybe.

I'm not convinced this will have legs, but she plays a long game so I guess we'll see. Its well-made, but a little anti-climatic overall and lacking in... something. Overall, it just seems like a bunch of disparate elements (album title, art direction, songs, promo) thrown together and they're not really meshing.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

my ranking:

1.Training Season
2.Houdini
3.Maria
4.Falling Forever
5.Illusion
6.These Walls
7.Happy For You
8.French Exit
9.Whatcha Doing
10.End Of An Era
11.Anything For Love

1-2: great tracks, obvious choices for the first two singles imo, album highlights by a big margin
3: I really like the vibe, it'll definitely be on my summer playlist
4-6: these songs are fine, nothing else to add
7-11: meh

If I have to rate it, it'd be around 6.5/10, and I doubt it'll go much higher.

May 2, 2024 20:20:17 GMT -5 HEADOFTHEPACK said:

Overall, it just seems like a bunch of disparate elements (album title, art direction, songs, promo) thrown together and they're not really meshing.

this. 100% agree

[Deleted]

Am I crazy or has damn near every photoshoot with her for this era been “ok, now look like anyone EXCEPT Dua lipa!” ??

[irice22]

Ooh I really liked this album. Perfect for a summer drive.

[Anticonformity]

My TOP 5:

1.Training Season
2.Houdini
3.End Of An Era
4.These Walls
5.Falling Forever

Do not like:
French Exit
Whatcha Doing
Maria
Anything For Love (WTH is with the song being like 1 min.)

[Dylan :)]

Compared to Future Nostalgia, it's a downgrade in material. However, the album is still good. The only songs I dislike are Illusion and Anything For Love. My problem with the album though, and Dua's music in general, is that it is starting to feel overly polished and, in a weird way, too flawless. It kind of feels like in a way it could be AI music, as I don't feel any personality in any of these tracks (except maybe These Walls). Houdini at least had some ad libs towards the end, but otherwise there isn't much else (maybe the background vocals on These Walls' chorus). It lends to the music blending together and blending into the background. Maria, for example, should have had more ad libs and vocal change up in the last chorus. I feel other than Houdini, there isn't much payoff in the songs.

I know I started by calling it good and now I'm kind of ripping it apart, but I'm writing this as listening and the end just gets a bit samey. The first four tracks were starting really good, then it just turned to good, and now I'm undecided

[IndieAdvocate / Spectrum]

Watch Dua Lipa's Radical Optimism be called the most "fine enough" album of 2024. (Outside of more minor footnotes, both good and bad)

In some ways "Houdini" is in a different league compared to the rest of the tracks. Kinda disappointing there. 

[beachboi69]

May 3, 2024 0:48:50 GMT -5 Anticonformity said:

My TOP 5:

1.Training Season
2.Houdini
3.End Of An Era
4.These Walls
5.Falling Forever

Do not like:
French Exit
Whatcha Doing
Maria
Anything For Love (WTH is with the song being like 1 min.)

Where is "Happy For You" the best song on the album?

[Anticonformity]

May 3, 2024 2:37:57 GMT -5 beachboi69 said:

May 3, 2024 0:48:50 GMT -5 Anticonformity said:

My TOP 5:

1.Training Season
2.Houdini
3.End Of An Era
4.These Walls
5.Falling Forever

Do not like:
French Exit
Whatcha Doing
Maria
Anything For Love (WTH is with the song being like 1 min.)

Where is "Happy For You" the best song on the album?

Probably 6/7 on the list...

[Enigma.]

May 2, 2024 15:40:55 GMT -5 nightshade said:

I can't get over Falling Forever. It is everything I wanted and more from the album.
I am going to say that I wish she didn't describe the album because if there's one thing I can count on is for artist's to fail at describing their albums properly.

I have never seen more inaccurate promo cycle in terms of the actual album that we have here. I don't know what has lead to all this, was there a psychedelic-rave-influenced-britpop album about radical optimism at some point? I am absolutely baffled.

The album itself is nice, but it's not what she sold us LOL

[beachboi69]

youtu.be/KKypB3YEPe0?si=RVD08pR58zvycntR

This slay to end the album the gays can freak out all they want.

The gays saying houdie sounds like FN... And now they are mad that the Album sounds nothing like it. These girls need to sit down.

Stan Taylor her music always sounds the same. She's your robot barbie that we tried to get away from.

[thezatch]

Not what I was hoping for a follow-up to FN at all, but there are a few nice tracks to add to my daily playlist on Spotify for now:

Houdini
Illusion
Whatcha Doing (this album's "Cool". Hopefully this is pushed next. It's odd to have two songs on the same album with this phrase in the hook.)
Finding Forever (I feel like she'll really struggle to sing this live though.)
Maria (a Julia Michaels co-write!)

The girls need to stop with the short albums though. 37 minutes total?! At least give us a few remixes or tack the extended edits of the singles so far at the end.

[samo🦕]

...i think i like this more than Future Nostalgia? (as an whole album, at least)

it's a lot more consistent (nothing here would crack my bottom 2 on FN), my only real complaint is that Anything For Love's second half isn't a full song

[JJ]

I think Dua really missed the chance to show some vulnerability and help create a more personal approach to her music. It was the perfect time and she missed it. The setup was all ready for a good ballad, or something more personal. She was coming from such a high, even if the song didn't become a hit, it would have broaden the spectrum of her music and connection with the public. She's rapidly losing it instead. I'd drop this album immediately and start working on a new track with that approach. I think of Rihanna, her first real ballad was Unfaithful (right?) and it wasn't a big hit, but it was important for her career. I still think Dua can turn things around, but not with this album.