Warner Music
Release Date: June 28th 2024
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Dua Lipa– Radical Optimism (Extended) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- End Of An Era (Extended)
- Houdini (Extended)
- Training Season (Extended)
- These Walls (Extended)
- Whatcha Doing (Extended)
- French Exit (Extended)
- Illusion (Extended)
- Falling Forever (Extended)
- Anything For Love (Extended)
- Maria (Extended)
- Happy For You (Extended)
One of the most unexpected and ‘left-field’ artists that I have recently been inspired by and impacted by, is singer/songwriter and British pop star Dua Lipa. I know, I know, Dua has been in the mainstream media for a number of years now, and she’s been dominating the charts. Dua has received a number of accolades recently- inclusive of, according to Wikipedia, “…three Grammy Awards, five Brit Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, one MTV Video Music Award, and an American Music Award…”. She’s been everywhere in the mainstream… and yet as it has been really since the start of COVID-19, that I myself have been immersed in mainstream music- and even then deliberately bypassing current ‘pop’ music; it’s only been the past couple of years since I have intentionally immersing myself into that it on the airwaves today. In 2021, I dived deep into Future Nostalgia, Dua’s second album- which just re-released as the expanded edition- Future Nostalgia (The Moonlight Edition). With the standard edition at 11 tracks, and the deluxe version a whopping 19 offerings; there was some back and forth as to whether the standard edition of the album would be released in 2020 or not (because of the COVID-19 pandemic!). However, people need music as escapism and as a means of finding an outlet to express themselves and their issues- and a number of listens from this release reminded me that Dua has set out to do exactly what she wanted. To release an album where we can just dance, think a bit, and not worry about the future of the world as a whole. Sure, we need to worry and plan for the future in a responsible sense, and a sense that which we can say that we’re not living in the moment- but at a time when all around us is so, so, so bleak… Future Nostalgia brought and still brings a smile to our faces, and that is all that we could ever ask or hope for.
Dua Lipa was an artist that I was initially hesitant to write about, to even listen to back in 2021. I had heard about the song “Be The One” on the radio (Hope 103.2 played the song a number of times!), however I was under the impression that mainstream pop was bad. Yet because I decided that objectively Dua had to be in my blog series about ‘up and coming’ artists over the next 5-10 years– and one look at her main Wikipedia page, as well as her discography Wikipedia page confirms this fact; it was time to face my apprehensions square on, and dive deep into Future Nostalgia. The result was a musical experience and journey that I would never expected… an album that is surprisingly cohesive, and lyrically and thematically with something inspiring and hopeful to say. Don’t call me a Dua fan yet (even now I’m not, just someone with more of an appreciation for good music, no matter who’s the artist!)… but this album has me appreciating the British pop star more and more, as we are immersed in one of the more jovial, cheerful, moving and impactful albums in recent memory. This doesn’t mean that I’ll instantly dive deep into all of mainstream pop… but it does mean that I’m more aware that good mainstream albums are out there- you just need to take the plunge and a step of faith sometimes.
But we’re not here to rehash Future Nostalgia. You can read all about my review for the album here; but while the album was littered with dance elements and 80’s and 90’s references, Dua’s third album which just released (Radical Optimism), carries on that trend, and speaks about someone so sure of themselves, and encourages us all to be hopeful and positive and optimistic, even when adversity and hard times get you down. We reviewed the third album here; but less than a couple of months later, Dua is back at it again with the extended versions of the songs of Radical Optimism– each song lengthened by about 2 minutes, not confined to radio length, and each track allowed to breathe and given the full on treatment of Dua Lipa musical experimentation. Call it ‘remix’ tracks, or ‘original’ tracks and the final album cuts are just versions for radio; however you frame it, this collection of newly extended songs can either enhance the project or turn it into a hot mess, depending on your viewpoint of how pop music and how dance music should sound like. But whatever your opinion, Dua’s latest album has people talking, and musically sounds incredibly impressive, no matter which version of the album you love.
The body of my review of Radical Optimism applies to this review too, as there aren’t any new vocals. According to one user on Reddit, “…the good thing about these extended versions is you get to appreciate the instrumentals and production value (although in some tracks it’s awkward); and the artist’s vision of the album had it not been constrained to certain factors if applicable…”while probably the only professional review I’ve found on the internet about this version of the new album, outlines that “…the extended version of ‘Radical Optimism’ feels like the weighty psychedelic mission we’d been expecting. A solid hour of funky bass lines, ridiculous synths, and lysergic textures, it blends the pop suss Dua has long since made her own with markedly different landscapes…The multi award-winning star added that she was “looking through the music history of psychedelia, trip-hop and Britpop…”, and these words frame the Extended edition much more effectively than the standard edition, the No. 1 smash that was delivered earlier this year. Scanning through… social media, it’s clear that some believe this was the original ‘Radical Optimism’, and that the earlier release was perhaps modified by the label. It’s hard to imagine Dua Lipa submitting to those type of industry commands, and it also trims back the agency she’s fought so hard to achieve, but that theory speaks to the quality of music on show here, and how effective these arrangements suit the songs…”. And though I’m not an expert at every musical nuance, as well as dance music at its core, all I can go off is how these versions made me feel. And as such, the general consensus is that these re-recorded versions enhanced Radical Optimism tenfold and then more. The songs sound richer and fuller, and to be honest, I enjoy these renditions a whole lot more than their radio counterparts. You might disagree with me though. and that’s ok.
If you were to say to me even a year in 2020 that I’d be listening to an album from Dua Lipa and liking it- I would’ve laughed in your face. But such is the unpredictability of life and the mysterious ways of God, that I can now say that I’m glad I took the plunge and listened to Future Nostalgia, the special edition tracks and now Radical Optimism and its extended version counterpart. With the album not Christian in nature, one might think that it was never going to be up my alley; however, these songs are still thought-provoking and inspiring, as we are met with an album that overall speaks about the intricacies of love, life and everything else- the complexities of love the emotion and love the active decision. As a single person, I didn’t expect to resonate with much of the tracks, yet I have felt recently that this album shows us a fraction of the love God has for each of us. This album shows us the epitome of human love and what it means to love a person wholeheartedly, as broken and as messy as we are as humans; and I reckon if there’s one takeaway form this album is that love is messy, but love is also beautiful, and we can and should step into it, because we don’t know where it may lead, and it may be forever or it may not, but either way, God’s got His hand upon it all. And the sooner we can fully grasp this notion, the sooner we can live life to the fullest, and the sooner we can surrender to God knowing that though He may not take our confusing love issues away, He will make us stronger people and better humans as a result. And now as I go off and reflect and ruminate on Radical Optimism for yet another time, let me say that if you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon as of yet- you need to. That’s all. Nothing more to it. Well done Dua, I can’t wait to see what God has in store for you in the future!
3 songs to listen to: Houdini, Training Season, Falling Forever
Score: 5/5
RIYL: Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lopez, Echosmith, Halsey, Tori Kelly, Demi Lovato, JoJo