On May 3, Dua Lipa released her third studio album “Radical Optimism.” Heavily inspired by disco and early 2000s pop, the electro-pop beats will have you caught up in the song before the deeper meaning of the lyrics even hit you.
In her interview with TIME magazine, she talked about how she uses songwriting as a form of manifestation. She also talked about how much she’s grown as a person, and how that growth is reflected in this album. Manifesting turned into stepping into her power, which is the overarching theme of the album.
Keeping with this theme, the first song “End Of An Era” is meant to make a statement that she is moving on from her previous troubles with love. Posing the question “Is this my happy ending?” over an upbeat “fa la la la” track that mimics those feelings of excitement and butterflies you get when starting to talk to someone new, Lipa proves she’s in a mindset of optimism.
Stepping Into Her Power
While this album is a way to manifest growth and new love, “Illusion” starts from where she was. Singing, “I still like dancin’ with the lessons I already learned,” she goes on to state that there “was a time when that sh– might’ve worked,” but acknowledges that she’s too smart to fall for that now: “Don’t know who you think that you’re confusin’ … You think I’m gonna fall for an illusion.”
Riding on this growth, songs “Houdini” and “Training Season” are all about setting high standards for romantic partners. Set to extremely catchy beats that make it hard to resist dancing to, Lipa will have all the girls manifesting new love for themselves.
“Falling Forever” is where the radical optimism comes into play. While she still asks the question “how long?” it’s not in a negative way. Singing the lyrics, “Can it just keep getting better?” and “Can we keep falling forever?” seemingly with a smile on her face, the question turns into a belief that there’s not going to be anything bad in this new love.
Hints of Her Old Self
Although she’s displayed her personal growth in this new album, there are some tracks that give hints of her past music. “Whatcha Doing” is the other side of her song “New Rules” from her first album. While “New Rules” is all about having the self-control not to fall for the situationship, “Whatcha Doing” is all about giving in. With lyrics of “But if control is my religion/ Then I’m headin’ for collision,” and “I’m scared to death that you might be the one to change me,” it’s safe to say she’s no longer rehearse and repeating her rules.
Another track similar to past work is the breakup ballad “These Walls.” Written from the perspective of someone looking at their toxic relationship from the outside, the lyrics offer a certain clarity to the pain, realizing that they are staying in a relationship they know isn’t good for them anymore.
While singing about past relationships like she did in her past work, “Maria” and “Happy For You” form a positive perspective on it. “Maria” is a letter to her boyfriend’s ex-love. Instead of being jealous of his romantic past, she’s understanding and appreciative of the fact that he’s had those experiences, and the girls he had them with. “Happy For You” is a lovely song wishing nothing but love and peace to someone who’s moved on from you, and how wishing the best for them also brings you peace.
Unoriginal
While the ocean waves and mirror reflections she uses as visuals throughout the album are perfect to set the tone for summer, it reminds me of the vibes of last summer when Miley Cyrus released her album “Endless Summer Vacation.” Everything from the photoshoots by the water, the swim suits, the bare-faced makeup with wet hair, the use of mirrors and gymnastics trapeze bars as props and the shades of blue to set the tone for the album is so similar to Cyrus’s album.
“French Exit” — a song about commitment issues and self-sabotage, needing to leave before even giving the relationship a full chance because that’s just who they are — is very similar to Miley’s song “Wildcard.”
Whether she intentionally copied Miley’s work, or simply followed the current trend in pop music, this album was unoriginal.
Even though I am pretty critical of this album, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t add any of the songs to my playlist.
