Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism | 365 Days Of Inspiring Media

Warner Music

Release Date: May 3rd 2024

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Dua Lipa– Radical Optimism (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

End Of An Era
Houdini
Training Season
These Walls
Whatcha Doing
French Exit
Illusion
Falling Forever
Anything For Love
Maria
Happy For You

There’s definitely something more cathartic that comes with the third album. ‘Future Nostalgia’ was my chance for me to be able to do a very polished pop-dance-disco record. [But ‘Radical Optimism’] was so much more free flowing. And it didn’t have a formula, per se, but I always had that pop sensibility in the back of my mind. But I wanted to just experiment and try and create something new. But I think this was always kind of the album that I’ve always wanted to make. [The album title] it’s euphoric, it’s togetherness. Dance music has such a long history of creating such a safe space. And I just want to embody that.

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. The powerful album opener “End Of An Era” speaks about Dua’s new ‘era’ in music (referencing Taylor Swift and all of her ‘eras’), but also highlights the fact that Dua’s singleness ‘era’ is over for the moment, as she is with someone and she is in love right now. It’s a song that encourages us all to step out in faith and take a risk if we want to be happy and if we’re head over heels in love with that one special someone; and this song is also a happy-go-lucky song that dives deep into the beautiful beginnings of a new relationship, also inspiring us to be honest about our feelings and to surrender to something beautiful, no matter how long it lasts.

The rest of Radical Optimism is chock full of positivity and highlights the theme of being happy despite the turbulent times that may be occurring in your life at the moment. “Houdini”, the first single, is a frenetic, energetic, fun ball of energy, with Dua proclaiming to a potential suitor to man up and be proactive in the art of chasing her, otherwise she will move onto someone who is more worthy or is more invested in her. It seems to be cruel and callous in the lyrics, but “Houdini” still sounds fun, fresh, vibrant and engaging, as Dua leaves room in the song for the potential partner to do the pursuing and ensure that time isn’t wasted and things don’t slip us by. If we want something, we should try to get it (but not forcefully and not in a creepy way!), and Dua’s insistence that she (and women in general) won’t wait around forever for a guy who may or may not be interested, should inspire us (men specifically) to take action and to step outside of our comfort zones- after all we might be pleasantly surprise as to what arises from a leap of faith. “Training Season” also speaks to the soul, as Dua uses running, athletics and sports references to encourages single people to go after their respective crushes with a renewed sense of purpose and determination- as ‘training season’s over’ and now is the time to find somebody who will be that special someone for you to be with forever. Sadly though, the poppy and breezy “These Walls” is one of the most depressing and desolate melodies I’ve heard from Dua, as she sings about the inevitable end of a relationship that has run its course but the two people can’t see it (perhaps it’s also a song about realising that some things end and that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate the good times, or even hold the ex in high regard and as a friend!). Thankfully though, “Whatcha Doing” is as romantic and as beautifully delivered as it sounds, with Dua singing in this 80’s themed dance melody to her crush, asking him what he is doing to her, changing her from a single person and someone who plays the field, to a person who is now in a relationship, is now a grown up, and is now in a new phase of her life that isn’t completely horrible!

“French Exit” is an emotional, heartbreaking and melancholy track, that speaks about one person breaking up with the other person through a ‘French exit’- as in leaving without saying goodbye or without any explanation, probably due to a perceived lack of connection from one person to another (a heartbreaking song but also a track that encourages us to make our move towards a person we’re interested in so that that ‘French exit’ doesn’t happen!); while the empowering and headstrong dance number “Illusion” highlights the fact that though guys love to chase Dua, in this song she outlines that she is in control and she is doing the chasing without them knowing about it, and without them thinking that she is actually in control. “Falling Forever”, a ballad where Dua shows off her vocal chops, speaks about the yearning of a burgeoning relationship to keep on going for as long as it can, and for both people to keep on falling in love with each other forever; while the demo-like “Anything For Love” has Dua powerfully questioning the motion of people giving up on a possible forever romance at the first sign of hardship, as she outlines that “Anything For Love” I guess is this idea that we live in such a fast world where it feels like things are easy to dispose of. So people don’t really fight for things that they really care about or they’re very quick to let go of things that are meaningful. And in that sense, that’s where I went in for “Anything For Love”. It’s like remember the time when people really fought for something or love really meant something, and it wasn’t just this throwaway thing? So that’s really where that song stemmed from.

“Maria”, the penultimate song on Radical Optimism, is an ode to Dua’s current partner’s ex, is which Dua is appreciative to Maria for helping Dua’s current partner be the person he is today, so that he can be the perfect partner for Dua- “Maria” is another interesting perspective of full personal maturing moment, because when you go through a breakup you’re like all right that person’s going to go and be so much better for someone else now. I feel like, whatever happened here, they’ve learned and they’re going to put it into action in the next relationship. I think everyone has done that for someone or someone has done that for them. With every relationship you grow, and you become hopefully a better version of yourself from the experiences that you’ve had. So “Maria” is really about being grateful to the ex and being like thank you for doing that, because we all grow, we all learn and now I have this person who’s just like meant for me in this way. The album then ends with the heartbeat of the album- “Happy For You” speaks about being happy for an ex or just someone you know- even if they’re not in your life anymore. It’s about being the bigger person and knowing that though they might not give you a second thought, to just appreciate the good times you had with them and just wish them the best in the future- in a way it’s a song about believing the bets in people and having that feeling of optimism. Dare I say- radical optimism? – I love this song because it’s about seeing someone who you were with move on and be really happy for them. And I probably wouldn’t have been able to write this song, you know, on my first or second record cause I don’t feel like I probably would have grown as a person or as an artist, to be able to see someone that you loved move on or I would have found it like difficult. And so yeah, you write as a form of therapy, whatever it is in the moment. But I felt like I’ve definitely changed so much from who I was in my first album to who I am now emotionally. And I’ve grown and I’ve matured, and I think you just find the sense of happiness and optimism, and this kind of carefree energy of ‘what’s meant for me is for me’. I think perspective is something that I guess just keeps coming back. I didn’t know it was going to end the album so it could have been the center of the it. It feels like a real 180. Maturing, seeing almost like my ghost on the other side and being like “Wow you’ve grown so much from an experience to be able to, to see things from that perspective”. But I think also in terms of relationships, I needed to get to this place in order to find what I really needed. You have to be in the act of forgiveness and growing and learning and being okay with the past in order to move on with what’s to come next. So “Happy For You” is a beautiful happy song because it’s so reflective of my journey.

For a long period of time I was like, ‘What do I keep for myself, what do I put out there? How do I talk about my stories while also not putting my whole personal life on blast?’ It’s quite a vulnerable position to put yourself in, whereas for this record, I felt so free in telling my stories and talking about my experiences. I think that also just came from my confidence as a songwriter and knowing what is asked of me and knowing what this job requires. Whether it’s heartbreak or if the people that you thought were the ones you knew so well aren’t actually who they made out to be, all of those are lessons in life.

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. 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!

A couple years ago, a friend introduced me to the term ‘radical optimism’. It’s a concept that resonated with me, and I became more curious as I started to play with it and weave it into my life. It struck me – the idea of going through chaos gracefully and feeling like you can weather any storm. At the same time, I found myself looking through the music history of psychedelia, trip hop and Britpop. It has always felt so confidently optimistic to me, and that honesty and attitude is a feeling I took into my recording sessions.