Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism Review

We made it. Radical Optimism is here…(sad kazoo noise). Obviously it’s occupation of the American headspace is very low because of Kendrick Lamar murdering Drake on the air waves. But no matter. I was still also here for this Dua Lipa album. So we shall dive into it, track by track! Radical Optimism—-

End Of An Era

This is a very strong opener. It’s got a very laid back feeling, the sound of the Vacanza Queen’s day to day life. Dua Lipa enters the record comfortably, clearly in a good mood and ready to roll into the summer. I like the pumping production, with all these weird drums and bells mixed super low under the main leads. It’s a very elegantly produced track. The melodies and overall sound of the track feels like an homage to a Macy’s line or an airport fragrance store. The little spoken bits in that British accent are cosmopolitan af. True to the record’s name, it is an optimistic track, in this case about change and entering a new stage in life. And it’s a reasonable topic. She is 28. Obviously nothing is stopping the Vacanza Queen, but I’m sure it’s a time of reflection. What does the next chapter look like? Dua Lipa herself may not know, but it’s clear she’s excited about the possibilities.

Houdini

I already talked about this song in my preview so there’s not a terrible lot to say at this point. Hearing how it fits into the final package that is this record, I think it stands out as both a more pointed and energetic song, as well as an edgier number production wise. The synths here are one of the sharper sounds on the record as a whole and that synth line is easily the strongest instrumental hook on the entire thing. The track as a whole is well slotted, giving us some urgency in the album’s 36 minute run time.

Training Season

I initially though this was a strange choice to follow “Houdini” but after a while I was sold. Again, this is a shorter record, which means that putting two of the highest energy tracks back to back is risky. But it works here. I think in general, this song is a good balance in tone between the uptempo anxiety and excitement of '“Houdini” and the summery tone of the rest of the album. In some ways, I like this song’s place in the record more than “Houdini.”

These Walls

This song is a tonal switch up from the previous two. A catchy, pretty, sad summer bop. I really liked this song. It’s catchy and vibey. It also is lyrically very coherent and feels like a story as well as a pop song. Dua Lipa isn’t breaking out Webster’s to tell this story, but she does a really good job using pop cliches. A relationship is tested by a drunken night and that night reveals more truth than any sunlit platitudes ever could. Simple, realistic and relatable. It’s a youthful experience backed by veteran wisdom.

The production here isn’t groundbreaking but it’s beautiful and tasteful, with nice basslines and some great grooves underlying the instrumentals. There’s shades of iconic summer pop here that takes me back to my high school days of smoking a J and listening to the Beach Boys and Katy Perry……a tear springs to my eye.

Watchu Doing

This is an album cut that matches the energy of the singles. It’s vibey, infectious and dynamic. I can picture dancing to this after too many cheap beers, hanging out on the waterfront, questioning my decision making. It’s a soundtrack to those “this is life” moments. This feels like bread and butter Dua Lipa. A great hook, clean and shiny instrumental, a sense of party in the air.

Once again, it finds Dua Lipa reflecting on love, hookups and her own power she has over men, a power she wonders has a hold on her as well. She can’t take a night off from taking names and breaking hearts and she’s beginning to wonder if this is even healthy. Well, she can always change tomorrow.

French Exit

This is just one of those albums where every song feels like a single. And “French Exit” is another great example of this. The production is stellar here, with pretty little flute sounds fluttering over a catchy and sad guitar loop. There’s a lot of guitars on this track and they sound absolutely incredible. There’s also more of Dua Lipa’s voiceovers and they fit well here.

The hook is interesting. It sounds a little exotic, a little bombastic, maybe even a little out of vogue in some ways. It feels like a hook from an early 2010s Selena Gomez and The Scene album. Those were fun records. Nothing wrong with that. This track finds Dua Lipa once again grappling with her lust for heartbreak, haughtily declaring on the hook that “It’s not a broken heart if I don’t break it.” She knows her true power and it is almost too terrifying to bear.

Illusion

Already discussed this song and there’s not too much to say about it. I like it’s placement. It feels like a good segway into the final leg of the album. It brings just the right amount of energy into this part of the tracklist. It feels like a simpler track tonally, especially after “French Exit”, which has Dua Lipa digging into more complex and deeper rooted sentiments. I mean, as far as “Illusion” goes, it’s the same excellent song we discussed about two weeks ago.

Falling Forever

This is a power ballad. The powerful marching drums, the anxious crescendos, the desperate desires. “Falling Forever” is about passion, specifically this idea of falling in love forever. “Can it just keep getting better?” Dua Lipa half wonders, half laments. If there’s one thing this album has taught us, it’s that Dua Lipa is too powerful to be tamed. As much as she wants eternal love, it disappoints her, because Dua Lipa is just too strong.

But, that does connect back to this idea of “radical optimism”, which, in some ways is almost like delusion. It’s possible Dua Lipa will never find what she wants. But she’s brave to keep searching, and on this track she is on the war march towards her dreams. That being said, there is an odd bridge sequence that confused me. I didn’t hate it though and it didn’t detract from the track, just felt like a side quest, both melodically and instrumentally.

Anything For Love

This song is sort of like an interlude. 9th track on an 11 track record is an interesting spot for it, but here we have it. It roughly consists of three sections- a small segment of recorded conversation between Dua and (I assume) her producers, a soft piano ballad, then, an outtake off of Prince’s 1999 record. Yes. The last third or so of this song feels exactly like vintage Prince, with the bouncy, goofy synths, the vocoded(?) background vocals. It’s okay. This song feels kind of strange on this record. It doesn’t really know what it wants to do or what purpose it serves.

Maria

Another guitar loop. A good one as well. This instrumental is very good. The Kevin Parker influence is laced into the ambience of the beat, with some signature touches lurking around the corners of this track. The synths for one, are wild and out of place in a great way, like seeing your environmentalist friend at the bag party.

The hook is a little too rough. Like, instead of gracefully pulling you along, it jerks you forward. “MARIA!” Dua Lipa screams on the chorus…..Lyrically, this one has a little bit of a twist, in that this time Dua Lipa is being held out of this guy’s heart because of "Maria”, who is taking up his thoughts. It’s a fresh take and I respect the concept. It did make me realize that Dua Lipa is probably just pissed she can’t break his heart, but so be it. Somewhere there’s a girl named Maria out there who dunked on Dua Lipa so if that’s you, congrats I guess.

Happy For You

The final track on what has been an eventful ride. This track feels like a closer. It’s a little downbeat, a little sad. It finds Dua Lipa in her feelings, reflecting on seeing her ex-man with a new woman. She’s claims she’s happy for him. I don’t think she is though. She actually seems very jealous. Like, very jealous.

Production wise, this is probably the most “type beat” track on the record. It’s pretty Plain Jane pop, some synths in the background, keys, a fun lil drumloop. Not my favorite song on the record to be honest. Still a decent pop cut that’ll play. I expect it will hit hard in the duty free.

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So that’s it! We have sadly finished Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism. It is a record that was full of summer pop hits, perhaps to a fault. I like it more and more on each listen, but it wasn’t quite what I expected. I guess the singles, specifically “Houdini”, gave me a notion that this was about to be some world bending pop. In reality it felt a lot safer. Kevin Parker definitely shows his chops here, but unfortunately I don’t think he gets the role he probably deserves. The instrumentals are great….but something is off. I feel like there’s a Snyder Cut of this record that’s a top 10 album of the year. Unfortunately, I bet we’ll never hear it. Dua Lipa went on vacation for four years (not actually) and now the suits want their money. They don’t want a prog pop-rave record. Give us the hits and a pretty CD to sell at Target please.

BUT!!!! I did really like this album. But I’m also slut for tunes. The nice shiny hooks picked me apart while the shimmering synths pacified me. Dua Lipa sounded great. I would see this performed live. And yes, I do feel bad that her release got utterly destroyed by the Kendrick-Drake beef. But I do think this album will age well, and I can’t wait to see that happen. Here’s to a summer of Radical Optimism. (I cringed as I typed that.)