Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism

[Choco]

I say give us one final single in the summer with a big push - if it doesn't connect she needs to move on.

[spiritboy]

This is now one of my fave albums of the year. Dua delivered again.

[weaver]

I was very meh on this on the first few listens, and some of it still doesn't hit that hard for me - Future Nostalgia it is not. But a lot of these are growers - These Walls in particular has gone on repeat for me.

She does need a single to connect in the U.S. It's hard to believe she went from having 2 long-lasting #2 peaking singles, a few other moderate hits, and a top 10 soundtrack single, to not even cracking the top 10 of the Hot 100 with any of her singles.

I'd like to see These Walls be the next single. I don't know if she would actually get a hit out of it, but it's different from the rest of the album, and would be quite a different sounding release from her.

[schnetzka]

Obviously people are here for Dua since the album debuted at #2 on Billboard Top 200 but for some reason the songs aren't doing all that well. Would this put her into the category of an "album artist"? I've always preferred albums to singles anyway.

[felipe]

Does she have televised performances for Illusion planned or was it just SNL? Are they still pushing the single?

It's funny because the album is finally out now, but it doesn't feel like there's any current single promoting the album.

[kimberly]

here to let you know that I'm obsessed with this record just as much as Future Nostalgia, if not more (since there are still no skips on this one for me).

very very sorry for those who do not find the album enjoyable, because this is giving me so much serotonin lately. cheers!

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

^ha, mine looks pretty similar with some Billie coming up fast.

May 18, 2024 10:02:43 GMT -5 Choco said:

I say give us one final single in the summer with a big push - if it doesn't connect she needs to move on.

Agree - selfishly, would love These Walls. Can't think of anything else that screams single and it did OK out of the gate.

As much as I am enjoying this and fully recognize it's impossible to recreate a moment, I listened to FN all the way through for the first time in a while this week and it's really so much better. Having RO on repeat for a bit and spending time with the singles made that so glaring to me. Subjective of course and I enjoy RO, it just really suffers in comparison to such an excellent album like FN.

[Choco]

May 19, 2024 7:36:22 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

Obviously people are here for Dua since the album debuted at #2 on Billboard Top 200 but for some reason the songs aren't doing all that well. Would this put her into the category of an "album artist"? I've always preferred albums to singles anyway.

Her streaming is kinda pathetic so far. She got the #2 due to strong sales but sales usually crater after week 1 for most acts. She could really use a hit single asap.

[Maximillian]

So I think we can agree now the sales are extremely bad — do yall think Dua will try to reinvigorate the era or move on?

[Choco]

May 22, 2024 12:30:41 GMT -5 Maximillian said:

So I think we can agree now the sales are extremely bad — do yall think Dua will try to reinvigorate the era or move on?

She was shooting a music video very recently; we don't know the song but I'm guessing one more single is gonna happen.

I don't expect promo to majorly pick up. Between her father/manager and the fact that the label probably already spent the bulk of the budget they had for this album, and with bad numbers so far...

[rainie]

just listened to the album and my take on it is that it's full of second / third / fourth singles (songs that maintain momentum) but no first singles (songs that create momentum) -- yes this includes houdini, although i do like it better in the context of the album. kind of wild how much of a regression it is in that context when like half of future nostalgia was first single quality (and really every song on it minus boys will be boys could've been a single) but it is what it is

my hot take is that end of an era is one of the better songs on the album and might have actually been my choice for a first single -- at minimum, it strikes me as the song most likely to make a random person who hears it sit up, take notice, and want to find out more. again, it's not future nostalgia quality, but it strikes me as the best pick for a song to throw out there to see if it sticks (with the possibility of pulling it back in and calling it a promo single / giving houdini or training season the full first single "push" if the numbers after the first few weeks are looking especially dismal)

oh, and if she actually cared abt the album's success at this point she needs to go back to the studio, turn anything for love into an actual song, then find some high profile awards show to perform it at as a stripped back piano ballad (and maybe as a duet of some sort ?). release the extended version to streaming services, both in stripped back and upbeat form and boom. she has a chance of getting one of the songs from this album to connect with the public (with even that being somewhat of a hail mary)

[felipe]

May 22, 2024 12:30:41 GMT -5 Maximillian said:

So I think we can agree now the sales are extremely bad — do yall think Dua will try to reinvigorate the era or move on?

I hope she doesn't give up on this era. Her first 2 albums are both over 10 billions streams, it will be embarrassing to have her third album reach 1/10 of that.

[Ivy Leegue™]

May 22, 2024 23:30:12 GMT -5 rainie said:

my hot take is that the title track is one of the better songs on the album

I thought you had moved on from Future Nostalgia and were talking about Radical Optimism, but then you mentioned title track, so I am lost.

[balletgirlmom]

I love Radical Optimism.  I love all the tracks but End of An Era, Maria and These Walls are stuck in my head.  Dua has such a great voice.  

[rainie]

May 23, 2024 9:00:34 GMT -5 Ivy Leegue™ said:

May 22, 2024 23:30:12 GMT -5 rainie said:

my hot take is that the title track is one of the better songs on the album

I thought you had moved on from Future Nostalgia and were talking about Radical Optimism, but then you mentioned title track, so I am lost.

oh wait i was talking abt radical optimism, i forgot end of the era is titled that and not named after the album (since she does mention optimism in it and it opens the album like the title track of future nostalgia) edited my post !

[85la]

May 19, 2024 7:36:22 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

Obviously people are here for Dua since the album debuted at #2 on Billboard Top 200 but for some reason the songs aren't doing all that well. Would this put her into the category of an "album artist"? I've always preferred albums to singles anyway.

The reverse actually, she's really shown herself to be much more of a singles artist, with her first two albums' sales and overall streams not measuring up to the level of hits they and similar artists' albums have produced, and FN maybe only awhile until after she garnered several hits from that album. She's shown herself to be very much of a radio-driven artist, whose hits take awhile to peak and streaming, if she gets any, only fully kicking in afterwards.

Also the high first week of RO was indeed only short-lived, as it's projected to be already outside the top 30 in its third week.

[PGriffin]

I have been wondering if her success was a fluke (especially during FN). During the FN era she was one of the only artists still doing promo and gave us music to dance to when we needed it most. I wonder how that era would have done during normal times.

[wjr15]

Tour dates for Asia released:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7hep5dMQDG

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

May 28, 2024 7:41:13 GMT -5 PGriffin said:

I have been wondering if her success was a fluke (especially during FN). During the FN era she was one of the only artists still doing promo and gave us music to dance to when we needed it most. I wonder how that era would have done during normal times.

You could say this about so many moments though. Like without the pandemic, we wouldn't have Folklore/Evermore. Her first album also did huge numbers over time and she's had plenty of successful collabs too.

[wjr15]

I feel like a lot of eras in 2020 would’ve been different without the pandemic, whether it’s for better or worse.

[Anticonformity]

I actually love both albums (FN and RO) but I also think, imo, that Future Nostalgia was very comforting at that time too... Like I think it helped take peeps minds off of the real world for a few minutes which was crucial...

[felipe]

Technically, Levitating - the biggest song of 2021 - was after the pandemic, in the sense that it was post-lockdown, post-vaccine, when most other artists were already back to promoting as usual.

[avamaxstan]

Dua just came out strongly against Israel's genocide in Gaza. The beauty of being in a flop era is that she gives zero fucks about who she pisses off!

[Dammn Baby]

Dua added Dance the Night to the RO album playlist on Tidal. Wonder if she will follow suit on other platforms. Get that streaming smash album, girl!

[Anticonformity]

May 29, 2024 14:24:18 GMT -5 felipe said:

Technically, Levitating - the biggest song of 2021 - was after the pandemic, in the sense that it was post-lockdown, post-vaccine, when most other artists were already back to promoting as usual.

I'm thinking more about early on, when the album was released... like from my own experience and just what I've observed over the years, it was an escape from reality album...
Much like Chromatica was as well (and others obvi)

[felipe]

May 30, 2024 0:19:22 GMT -5 Anticonformity said:

May 29, 2024 14:24:18 GMT -5 felipe said:

Technically, Levitating - the biggest song of 2021 - was after the pandemic, in the sense that it was post-lockdown, post-vaccine, when most other artists were already back to promoting as usual.

I'm thinking more about early on, when the album was released... like from my own experience and just what I've observed over the years, it was an escape from reality album...
Much like Chromatica was as well (and others obvi)

I understand, but I think it's unfair to dismiss Dua's success as a product of the pandemic since her success during peak pandemic/lockdown (Don't Start Now, Break My Heart) was much smaller than it was post-lockdown (Levitating, Cold Heart, Dance the Night).

[wjr15]

Also, Don’t Start Now was already smashing (#1 on CHR) by the time the first lockdowns happened.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

Yeah I really don't think the pandemic/lockdown is what made FN a success. It was on the way. What impressed me was how quickly they pivoted to a lockdown release for a disco/dance album and still got a huge, years long era out of it. The same cannot be said for Gaga's team. I remember reading interviews with both managers, Dua's was like 'yeah not ideal but we pivoted quickly', Gaga's was like 'we had such a huge campaign planned... and then... covid... sucks."

[Choco]

I distinctly remember sitting on my porch, during lockdown, putting on some headphones, listening to Future Nostalgia and crying for better times while watching the night sky. It was sort of a turning point for me in terms of accepting the situation and working through it. Very few albums connect to you in that kind of way and I will always love it, and her, for that.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

I remember when stores were allowed to open again after lockdown but with limitations, so for the record store, you had to go to the counter - you weren’t allowed in the store itself, and tell them what you wanted and they’d get it for you. So I went and got the FN vinyl. That was my pandemic era album as well.