For many of us Future Nostalgia, an album overflowing with retro-futurist disco-inspired bangers, was the soundtrack to our 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. Dua Lipa has established herself as the queen of nu-disco and now, four years later, she returns with the follow-up, her third studio album, Radical Optimism. Rather than take the safe option of sticking with the same winning formula, Lipa has promised a “psychedelic-pop-infused tribute to UK rave culture”.
The first change is that the singer has partnered with songwriter-producer Kevin Parker, of Tame Impala fame, as well as Danny L. Harle, known for his work with Charli XCX. While the former has alt-rock credentials, neither has the obvious musical pedigree that fits with the sound Lipa was aiming for, having told Time that the album was inspired by both Primal Scream and Massive Attack.
The opener, ‘End Of An Era’, bursts forth with frothy summer optimism hinted at in the album title. Lipa sings about the power of kisses above a bouncy house-disco beat brightened with breathy vocals and percussive highlights that give it a samba rhythm. It’s a sound that feels happy and optimistic but there is no radical directional shift from the soundscape of Future Nostalgia. The disco heart of that record still beats at the core of the opening track.
If anything, that feeling of continuity is reinforced further on the powerhouse bop of lead single ‘Houdini’. With a sound which is slightly more nuanced than the brash disco beats of Lipa’s last album, this undoubtedly still carries her hallmarks. Confident and sassy, this a wonderful dance floor bop with clever earworms, rhythm changes and a beat to make this an instant club classic. The same can be said for ‘Training Season’, the second single. An anthemic banger with a rhythm that feels like the pounding footsteps of a rally against bad dates, this track is pure disco albeit with a Middle Eastern hue. If there is tribute being paid it is more to Euro-pop and the long-lasting legacy of ABBA’s influence on disco. ‘Training Season’ also shares far more genetic code with a Kylie song than it does with the psychedelic-infused musings of Primal Scream.
What these opening tracks demonstrate is that Lipa is still a force to be reckoned with when it comes to crafting dance floor fillers. The fact that the sound is so familiar doesn’t matter when the music lifts spirits and has enough rhythm switches and variety to sound fresh.
Unfortunately, Radical Optimism doesn’t manage to maintain the high standards of its predecessor. Whereas that critically acclaimed album produced a series of instant classic disco anthems, here there are too many euro-pop numbers that lack the bold soundscapes. ‘Falling Forever’ has the necessary disco beats but the soaring vocals scream Eurovision. The recent single, ’Illusion’, has some of the house-music infusion of previous hits but soon morphs into a generic euro-pop track. It lacks the siren’s call of Lipa’s finest floor fillers. ‘Whatcha Doing’ is another generic pop track that is not much more than an album filler.
Nowhere on the album do we find real evidence of the influences that Lipa had cited. There are still signs that the singer is more than just a disco queen. ‘French Exit’ begins with some snare drums and the refreshing sound of an acoustic guitar that signals a tonal change. This is a song that sounds sultry without being overtly sexy. It sounds glossy without seeming overly polished. The track is about leaving a relationship and, while lyrically it offers nothing new, this new sophisticated vibe works well.
Similarly, the pacy acoustic guitar-driven ‘Maria’ manages to stay on the right side of kitsch and recreate the nostalgia-fuelled atmosphere of Ibiza club nights. The song does an interesting take on love rivalry, focussing on how her partner’s ex helped him become the person he now is. “He was cold / And now he’s the sweetest… / ‘Cause he knows how much there is to lose,” sings Lipa.
Unlike some other artists, Lipa steers away from autobiographical lyrics which limits the album’s emotional depth compared to contemporaries such as Taylor Swift or even Miley Cyrus. Vocally, Lipa sounds like Cyrus on unashamedly poppy and ABBA-esque ‘These Walls.’ A breezy synth-driven break-up song with its catchy singalong chorus and haunting melody, it fits the optimistic mood of the album.
The album closes with ‘Happy For You’, taking us full circle to the shimmery summery vibes of the opener. This is another track giving an optimistic reflection on a break-up, “I must’ve loved you more than I ever knew / I’m happy for you”. If there’s a track with a subtle nod to the aforementioned Massive Attack, this is the one. The mid-tempo track is underpinned with a gentle crashing synth rhythm, an outro with nods to 10CC’s “I’m Not in Love”, and breathy soaring vocals. Unfortunately, as with many tracks, the production has so much going on that it doesn’t give Lipa’s vocals enough chance to shine.
Following a record as big as Future Nostalgia was never going to be easy for Dua Lipa. She had a choice; stick with a winning formula and risk her artistic growth or try something new. Radical Optimism was heralded as being a change of direction and the optimistic tone is there. However, the album fails to match the futurist nostalgia disco heights of its predecessor nor does it signal a new sound. It begins with some real disco bangers and closes with some interesting mid-paced tracks that showcase some developing maturity. The problem is that these book-end an insipid mid-section of generic euro-pop numbers.
In many ways, Radical Optimism is its version of Houdini—it comes and it goes. Just like the lyrics to that track, the listener is left thinking “I need something that’ll make me believe. If you’ve got it baby, give it to me.” Ultimately, this album is Lipa’s ‘Training Season’; it’s not a radical switch but demonstrates a willingness to experiment and that’s something to be optimistic about.
Words by Andrew Butcher
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