Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism

[james518]

I think everything here is fine, but some sort of spark is missing. I have been getting the impression this era is basically like “look, I can dance!”

[deedee1whoa]

What were they thinking? The strongest song on the album is the first single & if that one wasn't good, you know the whole thing is a miss. Deleted the album right away after giving it a listen. Didn't keep literally any songs. I knew it would suck because the released material was weak AF already, plus that awful & boring Barbie song... Wish it didn't exist.

I have to mention Falling Forever, however. The beginning of the chorus is nice! Yeah, not even the whole chorus, that's how bad the whole project is. If you want my opinion... It's quite sad, actually. Dua is one of the few girls that was feeding the bubblegum pop lovers.

Guess it's come to an end. Oh well.

Chart-wise, she may debut well & even spend some time on there but... That's just thanks to her older hits.

[kimberly]

This is a great pop album and I think it's really misunderstood (already). Part of the reason is unfortunately how Dua has described the album previously and the pre-release singles, namely Houdini, being almost out of place here on the record.

I don't get the personality comments. You have a song like "Maria" here, where she's addressing the other woman in her relationship, or a song like "These Walls" where she's chronicling a relationship that is too strained to work.

Just because Dua doesn't divulge her entire private life for public consumption doesn't mean her songs are devoid of personality.

Overall, I'd give this album a similar score to Future Nostalgia, maybe slightly lower. If FN was a 9/10, this one is an 8.5/10.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

Gotta say, now I’m over the initial “this was misrepresented” shock and am out in the sun listening to it… I’m enjoying it more.

[kimberly]

lol exactly what I mean!

[schnetzka]

Other than the singles, "Falling Forever" and "Maria", I am not really feeling this album. Still, that is 5 out of 11 which isn't bad.

[irice22]

Can someone give me rundown on how the album was misrepresented?

[musiclife]

I can't believe the album is out and before release we already heard half the album.. and for all the songs she has and she didn't release These Walls as the first single.. this era was completely mishandled.

[God]

I still can't believe she named her album Floptimism like...

May 3, 2024 10:39:28 GMT -5 HEADOFTHEPACK said:

Gotta say, now I’m over the initial “this was misrepresented” shock and am out in the sun listening to it… I’m enjoying it more.

I'm sure it'll sound lovely at the beach or poolside!

[RoseColoredGirl]

On first listen, I liked the first seven tracks quite a bit, but the last four weren't quite my cup of tea. "Illusion" is still my favorite from the album, and I'd say "Falling Forever" or "Anything for Love" was my least favorite. Not a bad album, but I found Future Nostalgia a lot more instant.

[musiclife]

I think the album should have been scrapped and they should have sent her back into the studio. 3 failed singles is a huge tell tell sign especially for someone who has had hits like her.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

Man I really have to start either waiting to post, or consolidating my posts... BUT.

Given how the album largely sounds, I would have really leaned into a euro summer vibe and 100% waited until 2-3 months ago to start the campaign. It's no classic and following up FN was never going to be easy, but it sounds 'best' in that setting. The only promo that matches this is the album art direction and it's not executed well. Think it would have really supported the carefree vibe she's trying to give off as well. And like, maybe not started the campaign as winter was beginning?!

They really had the vibe down for Future Nostalgia in art direction, videos, the Studio 2054 thing. AND they successfully pivoted a major campaign into a pandemic release. Could have something to do with her ditching TaP Management? Who knows, but it's truly mystifying.

[wjr15]

I really like this album!

Going into this, I knew not to compare this to FN because that’s one of those once-in-a-career perfect albums that could never be redone.

This album is much more summer-y than I was expecting, especially when Dua was describing the album as psychedelic pop and the first two singles. I thought ‘Illusion’ was going to be an outlier on the album but the album sounds much more like that song and both ‘Houdini’ and ‘Training Season’ are the outliers.

I already really like this album after two listens and Dua delivered us with more bops. Sonically, this is definitely different than FN which I’m happy about. Lyrically, it’s not pushing any boundaries but some of these hooks are pretty catchy.

My rankings after two listens:
1. Training Season (5/5)
2. Houdini (5/5)
3. These Walls (5/5)
4. Maria (5/5)
5. Falling Forever (4.5/5)
6. Illusion (4/5)
7. Whatcha Doing (4/5)
8. French Exit (4/5)
9. Happy For You (3.5/5)
10. End Of An Era (3/5)
11. Anything For Love (2.5/5)

1-4 are perfect to me. 5-8 are all really good. 9-10 are decent. 11 is the only meh song for me. I’ll definitely have this album on repeat throughout the summer and I’m sure my rankings will change over time.

[Choco]

May 3, 2024 10:38:20 GMT -5 kimberly said:

This is a great pop album and I think it's really misunderstood (already). Part of the reason is unfortunately how Dua has described the album previously and the pre-release singles, namely Houdini, being almost out of place here on the record.

I don't get the personality comments. You have a song like "Maria" here, where she's addressing the other woman in her relationship, or a song like "These Walls" where she's chronicling a relationship that is too strained to work.

Just because Dua doesn't divulge her entire private life for public consumption doesn't mean her songs are devoid of personality.

Overall, I'd give this album a similar score to Future Nostalgia, maybe slightly lower. If FN was a 9/10, this one is an 8.5/10.

Agreed 100%.

Honestly this album would have been a great surprise drop? I think the long and let's be honest, boring rollout of the singles hurt it. Drop it today with "Houdini" as the lead and it would have done better.

[Ling-Ling]

Yeah, I'm with kimberly, the discourse around this album is strange. It definitely speaks to the times we're in post social media/streaming where artists need to be relatable and available more than anything else. Looking at the lyrics here, pretty standard love and heartbreak fare and all seem perfectly relatable to me. And it all strikes me as personal to Dua. Her Euro-chic, aloof, cool girl vibes probably do her no favors in this environment. But to say Dua's music isn't interesting because she doesn't spill every inch of personal detail is rich, especially when Taylor just released an incredibly personal/insular album and hardly anything about it is interesting.

I definitely have my critiques. A handful of songs needed some tweaking and it lacks cohesion, but it's a very solid pop album. And unlike FN and her debut, it has no outright stinkers.

[Maximillian]

Sadly I’m in the opposite camp — I’m happy many people here are enjoying it, but I found it beyond dull and boring. Especially compared to the offerings her peers have given this year so far. Besides a few decent songs, there is really nothing here I plan to revisit.

[daddy]

Falling Forever is a bop, no?

[Choco]

I get finding it dull and boring, that's very valid, what I just don't think we needed was a full album of songs about how she's terribly in love with an actor from Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them in order for it to be interesting.

For better or worse I do think "Houdini" is the best song? I adore it now. But I found it a very easy listen. The art direction was very lacking. There's no excuse, for some of the random ass photos and the "Training Season" video.

[Maximillian]

May 3, 2024 13:04:06 GMT -5 Choco said:

I get finding it dull and boring, that's very valid, what I just don't think we needed was a full album of songs about how she's terribly in love with an actor from Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them in order for it to be interesting.

For better or worse I do think "Houdini" is the best song? I adore it now. But I found it a very easy listen. The art direction was very lacking. There's no excuse, for some of the random ass photos and the "Training Season" video.

Houdini is the album standout for sure this era - and its numbers are pretty strong (closing in on 500m streams on Spotify).

This sums up my thoughts a lot (from Rolling Stone):

“Unfortunately, Lipa sometimes sounds so chill that the music loses energy and starts to blur into a blissed-out glaze. Several of the songs on the second half of the record come off like background music, especially compared with potent past highlights like “Physical.” Ultimately, what you at times get is a watered-down version of Future Nostalgia, a record that feels adrift — even from Lipa herself. We didn’t expect her to cover Blur’s “Tender,” or drop her own line of lava lamps, but we were hoping for something a little more distinct.”

[haven]

May 3, 2024 12:03:59 GMT -5 Choco said:

May 3, 2024 10:38:20 GMT -5 kimberly said:

This is a great pop album and I think it's really misunderstood (already). Part of the reason is unfortunately how Dua has described the album previously and the pre-release singles, namely Houdini, being almost out of place here on the record.

I don't get the personality comments. You have a song like "Maria" here, where she's addressing the other woman in her relationship, or a song like "These Walls" where she's chronicling a relationship that is too strained to work.

Just because Dua doesn't divulge her entire private life for public consumption doesn't mean her songs are devoid of personality.

Overall, I'd give this album a similar score to Future Nostalgia, maybe slightly lower. If FN was a 9/10, this one is an 8.5/10.

Agreed 100%.

Honestly this album would have been a great surprise drop? I think the long and let's be honest, boring rollout of the singles hurt it. Drop it today with "Houdini" as the lead and it would have done better.

To add to your point: the difference between the singles we got and the album tracks in term of sound is pretty massive, with some exceptions. I think the rollout would've been less confusing had the 2nd and 3rd single choices had been more representative of the stuff on the album. That's something they couldve done by letting the audience choose the single.

IMO, Houdini b2b training season kinda shoe'd this into the "future nostalgia followup album" box instead of the "dua lipa third album" box, at least for the general public. The streaming disparity between the two (at least on soundcloud, which doesnt really push mainstream pop artists that much) is massive.

[jenglisbe]

The clear standouts to me:
"End of an Era"
"These Walls"
"Falling Forever"

"Anything for Love" had potential, but it very clearly needed to be fleshed out. Odd.

She might as well have stuck "Dance the Night" on here, even if just as a bonus track at the end. For one it would help the album totals - meaning streaming totals, but also total time length. For another, it's not like it would seem out of place considering the album isn't really as it was described.

[Deleted]

I actually enjoyed this more than I expected considering the first two singles weren’t it for me and Illusion has had an alarming burn rate for me. Honestly, this album sounds way more distinct and diverse from FN than the first 3 singles would indicate. I do kind of feel like there is a “samey-ness” to those 3 with each other I’ve seen others mention as well that isn’t so much the case with most of the other tracks here.

I really enjoy End of an Era, These Walls, French Exit, and Falling Forever on an initial listen. Whatcha Doing sounded bop-ish too. FN this is not, but I already assumed that was a given based on the 3 singles. I’m pleasantly surprised at this point the album pretty handily surpasses the quality of those.

I would have sent something like French Exit or Falling Forever as the second single tbh. Put something really different out there that may not be in your face hooky, but they’re still catchy nonetheless. I think that’s way more what she needed and I could’ve seen one of those two being slow-burners that had turned into substantial hits with a committed push by now.

I really think TS was a huge mistake, I maintain that chorus melody/delivery is the most gratingly monotonous thing I’ve ever heard from her. I honestly do think it’s a bit “too late” at this point for anything to do much as a 4th or 5th single. I would push Illusion as hard as possible still, the song is catchy and in her FN lane at least. But yeah, I would’ve played single 2 much differently here if I were them, think it could’ve helped this era a ton.

[Dammn Baby]

She truly shit the bed with this album. I'm really disappointed. There's absolutely nothing interesting or distinctive here, and it feels like it could have been released by any C-level pop girl.

[Maximillian]

May 3, 2024 15:15:49 GMT -5 Dammn Baby said:

She truly shit the bed with this album. I'm really disappointed. There's absolutely nothing interesting or distinctive here, and it feels like it could have been released by any C-level pop girl.

100%. I’d expect this album from a rising pop star, but not from one of the biggest names in the industry.

[Choco]

Falling Forever is honestly amazing tho. Fourth single?

Happy for You too. I kinda like all the non singles? Anything for Love needed to be a full song.

I'm kinda glad it's short. Some albums this year have felt like homework at how long and bloated they are. And I'm sure she's gonna drop an extended whenever they're about to wrap up the era.

[schnetzka]

So does anybody else think the album lacks melodies? It's like almost every line sounds the exact same.

[Deleted]

I agree with Falling Forever as the 4th single, but I don’t think it can do anything unless Illusion really ends up blowing up. Think it could’ve been big as the 2nd single, but now they will need to high profile remix it or something to have much of a chance. And even then I feel like her momentum is so gone this era.

[suburbandreams]

May 3, 2024 12:19:00 GMT -5 Ling-Ling said:

But to say Dua's music isn't interesting because she doesn't spill every inch of personal detail is rich, especially when Taylor just released an incredibly personal/insular album and hardly anything about it is interesting.

I definitely have my critiques. A handful of songs needed some tweaking and it lacks cohesion, but it's a very solid pop album. And unlike FN and her debut, it has no outright stinkers.

The issue with Dua is that if the music isn't interesting there is nothing to grasp on. 

For Taylor, even if the music isn't interesting, people still have the lyrics and her mythology to appreciate it.

Dua needs hits far more than Taylor.

It's the curse of a singles artist.

[Juan Carlos]

Apr 28, 2024 12:10:39 GMT -5 Juan Carlos said:

Revealed by a reliable source that "End of an Era" will be the focus track during the album release this Friday.

Contrary to what I posted before, "These Walls" turned out to be the focus track instead of "End of an Era" during the album's release week and it's even added to Today's Top Hits and Hot Hits UK, so it seems that Warner might work with/push it later due to its inclusion in the lower spots of the aforementioned playlists.

Apr 30, 2024 15:10:02 GMT -5 wjr15 said:

So I’m guessing she’ll perform ‘Illusion’ and ‘End of an Era’ on SNL this weekend?

Taking into consideration that you meant the focus track ("These Walls" instead of "End of an Era") as the second song to be performed on SNL, I still think that Dua will do "Illusion" (as you also mentioned) because it's her current single and an album track (not the focus track), so I'm inclined to pick "Happy for You" as I already mentioned before. She's going to perform that one on BBC One and Radio 1, besides "Illusion", "Training Season", "Be the One" and a cover of 2021's track "Sunshine" by Cleo Sol.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

Listening to the album now for the first time. Not a lot is really sticking (other than "Falling Forever") but I've been enjoying it so far. More thoughts to come I'm sure.