Dua Lipa's New Album 'Radical Optimism' is a Glittering Quest for Bliss Amidst Chaos

This article is cross-posted on That Fangirl Life: https://thatfangirllife.com/2024/05/dua-lipas-radical-optimism-is-a-glittering-quest-for-bliss-amidst-chaos/.

Dua Lipa is not only one of the hottest pop stars of the current musical landscape, but a hit-making machine. A whole four years after her smash sophomore album Future Nostalgia, the anticipation for her third studio album has been intense, dramatic, and a bit chaotic. The rollout of sultry, clubby singles like "Houdini" and "Training Season," coupled with a grungey, red-tinged aesthetic, had fans enthusiastic that this was the creative and sonic direction Lipa was pursuing for her upcoming release. But Radical Optimism, released May 3 via Warner Records, was rebranded as cool and refreshing, tapping into a tropical summer aesthetic. This duality and indecision are evident in the album; the songs bounce back and forth between the dark and the light, with some shining with summery, shimmering pop and others leaning into deeper, stormier dance tracks.

Since Radical Optimism is meant to refer to “the idea of going through chaos gracefully and feeling like you can weather any storm,” Dua Lipa seems to be at both a personal and career crossroads, where she can’t decide if she wants to leave behind the glitz and glamour of disco-pop in exchange for the sunny bliss of Mediterranean-infused psychedelia-pop.

Despite the inescapably addictive hooks and general ear-candy of Radical Optimism, it unfortunately distinctly lacks a smash hit that has come to be synonymous with Dua Lipa's music. Ultimately, Dua’s biggest enemy in deciding Radical Optimism’s impact on her career is her past achievements. With hits like "Don't Start Now," "Levitating," "Physical," “Dance The Night,” and "New Rules" under her belt, Dua has just been too consistently good to be releasing a collection of songs as impersonal and conventional as those on Radical Optimism.

Stand-out tracks: "Houdini" "These Walls" "Happy for You"

My Favourites: "Training Season" "Whatcha Doing" "Falling Forever"

The bookends of Radical Optimism, "End of an Era" and "Happy for You" capture the loose narrative of the album, with bright, airy production and parallel stories of falling in and out of love. The album opener "End of an Era" sees Dua as a hopeless romantic: "Another girl falls in love/Another girl leaves the club/I've lost all my senses." By the conclusion of the album, "Happy for You," Dua is radiantly at peace, having blissfully moved on from her heartbreak, "I must've loved you more than I ever knew/I'm happy for you/And looking back now, I hope you see it/Even the hard parts were all for the best".

The pre-released singles "Houdini" and "Training Season" are attention-grabbers, with confident, blunt, and unrestrained demands for a lover who can "prove you got the right to please me" and who "knows just how to take control". Dua is a pop star with a resounding alto range, which shines in "Training Season" as she sings "Are you on my team?/Or stuck on the sidelines waiting for someone to tell you to go?" These are among the sharpest, punchiest tracks on the album, but their more aggressive nature does make them feel disconnected from the theming of the rest of the project as a whole.

"These Walls" is a Britpop-influenced summery bop, deceptively light-hearted for the lyrical theme of the track, where Lipa is having an epiphany that "It's not supposed to hurt this much/If these walls could talk/They'd tell us to break up." Fresh, disco-inspired "Whatcha Doing" holds the two creative aesthetics of the album together, with twinkling production, synthy pianos, and a sensational bassline. Dua dramatically throws caution into the wind with confidence as she sings, “You’re in my head and now you’re/Clouding my decisions/Got me heading for collision/Whatcha doing to me, baby?” Pre-released “Illusion” is easy-flowing dance-pop made for the summer radio waves, marking her continuing transition from one personal and sonic chapter to the next. Here Dua takes her “rose-colored glasses off” and whittles her lover down to a“red flag” as she proclaims, “I just want to dance with the illusion.” But she’s a little reckless and completely impassive with her feelings as she states, “I still like dancing with the lessons I learned.”

If Dua is going to get another hit out of Radical Optimism, thundering dance track "Falling Forever" will be it. Her incredible vocal range finally has its opportunity to stretch to its full lengths and she’s lyrically the most radically optimistic as she is across the full album, calling out “How long/Can it just keep getting better?/Can we keep falling forever?”

Held together by the mess of metamorphosis, irresistible pop production, and one of the most distinctive and dynamic voices in pop, Dua Lipa’s lighthearted search for bliss in the midst of chaos marks another solid entry into her discography, even if it’s not up to her usual standard. Radical Optimism is a carefree, glimmering pop record undoubtedly headed for commercial success, particularly as it sizzles and shines in the heat of summer pop.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: KINDA OBSESSED

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY, Taylor Swift

The clock struck 2am on release night of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT and my delusional refresh of Taylor Swift's Spotify page resulted in stunning black cover art and the words THE ANTHOLOGY flashing before my eyes. "It's a double album. IT'S A DOUBLE ALBUM!"

While the first chapter of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT leans towards tumultuous, rich synth-pop, THE ANTHOLOGY is more darkly poetic, crushingly soul-baring, and instrumentally majestic indie-alternative, with Swift's masterful skill of storytelling never shining brighter. Unlike the original album, dominantly produced by Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner leads the charge on THE ANTHOLOGY, expertly weaving layers of simple-yet-intricate instrumentation to bring Taylor's anecdotes, myths, romances, and poems to life. But much like the first installment of the album, THE ANTHOLOGY cannot be properly understood, or even inferred, after a listen or two - these are tales to be heard and deciphered for years to come until it's considered a lyrical literary classic.

Stand-out tracks: "How Did It End?" "The Prophecy" "Cassandra" "Peter"

My favorites: "The Black Dog" "So High School" "The Bolter" "The Manuscript"

Old Habits Die Screaming

Starting THE ANTHOLOGY with "The Black Dog" makes it immediately clear that these aren't just throw-away tracks, they're deep-rooted in vivid storytelling and tangible emotion that pair perfectly with the original album. The final straw of heartbreak on "The Black Dog" is Taylor's shudder of breath at the end of the lyric, "And I still can't believe it/Cause old habits die screaming."

Easily overlooked when surrounded by a work as colossal as THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY, soft-spoken "I Look In People's Windows" incorporates immersive elements like hushed twitters of birds and simplistic acoustic melodies to illustrate the isolation and irrationality of searching for familiarity in the faces and behaviors of strangers. "I look in people's windows/In case you're at their table/What if your eyes looked up and met mine/One more time?" is as striking and uncertain as the feeling it's meant to depict.

I Love You, It's Ruining My Life

Coming out of "How Did It End?," "So High School" is like the "Begin Again" at the conclusion of 2012's Red - it's the glimmer of hope, the heartwarming joy of new love, the belief that all the pain can lead to something beautiful. Each little anecdotal detail illustrates that "You knew what you wanted/And, boy, you got her" in the sweetest, most starry-eyed way.

A youthful, star-crossed romance meets its fateful end in piano ballad "Peter;" there is sorrow in each repetition of the song's hook, "Said you were gonna grow up/Then you were gonna come find me." And the tragedy of the story doesn't end there: "The shelf life of those fantasies has expired/Lost to the lost boys chapter of your life/Forgive me Peter, please know that I tried."

You Don't Get to Tell Me About Sad

Weaving the mythological tale of "Cassandra" into the story of THE ANTHOLOGY, Taylor inadvertently compares herself and her professional misfortunes to the Greek prophetess who was cursed to foretell the future but never believed, ultimately resulting in irreparable destruction. "Blood's thick but nothing like a payroll/Bet they never spared a prayer for my soul/You can mark my words that I said it first/In a mourning warning no one heard." This one serves as one of the many truly literary allusions in THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY, solidifying its deep-rooted intellectual brilliance.

Am I Allowed to Cry?

Taylor Swift has always masterfully crafted heartbreak into her songwriting. So if THE ANTHOLOGY is considered a second album in any way, the fifth track (if you know) is "How Did It End?." This might be the most devastating track she's penned in her entire career; the piano instrumental is ghostly and the lyrical illustration of the isolating spiral in the aftermath of a separation is tragically vivid. And the bridge speaks for itself: "Say it once again with feeling/How the death rattle breathing/Silenced as the soul was leaving/The deflation of our dreaming/Leaving me bereft and reeling/My beloved ghost and me/Sitting in a tree/D-Y-I-N-G."

While the prior may be the most devastating heartbreak track we've heard from Taylor, "The Prophecy" is a different kind of sad, one that is hopeless, desperate, and begging the question "Oh, was it punishment?" There is no despair like the loss of time come and gone: "But even statues crumble if they're made to wait/I'm so afraid I sealed my fate/No sign of soulmates/I'm just a paperweight."

An ode to childhood dreams, imagination, and naivete, "Robin" (likely inspired by Dessner's daughter of the same name), is soft yet powerful, hopeful yet heartwrenching. With its childlike imagery ("You have a favorite spot on the swing set/You have no room in your dreams for regret") and resounding piano production, "Robin" is a true light amongst the dark.

The illustrious achievement that is THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY concludes with "The Manuscript." For an album that holds so much power in its words, finding a way to accurately explain why this is the most exquisite, complementary resolution to this work of art is challenging. It's intimate, it's transformative, it's quite simply poetic. After over two hours of music on the full album, Taylor concludes THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT with one final introspection:

"And at last/She knew what the agony had been for/The only thing that's left is the manuscript/One last souvenir from my trip to your shores/Now and then I re-read the manuscript/But the story isn't mine anymore."

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, Taylor Swift

For the last few days since the release of Taylor Swift's eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, my mind has been reeling about how to process and articulate a creative work of art this colossal, this magical, and this utterly Taylor.

Despite its over-two hour run time and diaristic lyrical density, the true genius of TTPD lies in what can be read between the lines. It's a culmination of all the pieces that have created the astronomically successful puzzle that is Taylor Swift music over the last 18 years while also breaking ground into something brand new. Tapping into the lyrical chaos of Taylor Swift, the devastatingly beautiful heartbreak of Red, the devil-may-care attitude of Reputation, the grounding indie-acoustic storytelling of Folklore and Evermore, and the glittery haze pop of Midnights, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT emerges as something that transcends an album-- it's a collection of songs that is tangible rather than describable. And this is not a project that can be consumed and understood in a single go; it unearths a new gift with each listen, revealing poetic melodies, lyrics that explain the unexplainable, production that mimics emotional turmoil (or should I say torture?), and the liberating hope that even the deepest heartbreak can foster a masterpiece.

Stand-out tracks: "So Long, London" "But Daddy I Love Him" "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" "I Can Do it With a Broken Heart"

My favorites: "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" "Guilty as Sin?" "loml" "The Alchemy"

While I was one of those people who not-so-delusionally stayed up until 2am on TTPD release night to witness the surprise release of THE ANTHOLOGY half of the album, I didn't have the composure to do anything but run around and shriek and listen to the additional fifteen tracks with bleary eyes when they hit streaming. Therefore, this review will focus on the original TTPD album. (THE ANTHOLOGY review is coming, but I need more time to process the other half of the album. Taylor may be super-human enough to release a double album while on The Eras Tour, but she overestimated my ability to process 31 songs all at once. Taylor, I love you, it's ruining my life.)

I Love You, It's Ruining My Life

"It's the worst men I write best." Virulent love that disguised itself as true love inspires album opener "Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)" and solo-written "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys." The prior is understated yet sharp, with stunningly complimentary Post Malone harmonies and scathing lyrics like "All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February" and "What about your quiet treason?" The building production coupled with the effectively repetitive "I love you, it's ruining my life" makes Taylor's turmoil-turned-freedom palpable. "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" sees the duo of Taylor and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff flexing their metaphorical pop-banger wings to deconstruct the destruction of a tactless lover who "saw forever so he smashed it."

Taylor finds herself intoxicated with affection for worse or for better in "But Daddy I Love Him" and "The Alchemy." As she's "telling him to floor it through the fences" despite the fact that "He was chaos/He was revelry," "But Daddy I Love Him" gives the first taste of how Taylor's massive stardom has unpleasantly crept into her relationships: "I'd rather burn my life down than listen to one more second of all this bitchin' and moanin'." This almost feels like a nod to 2010's "Mean," with Taylor reminding that she'll always rise above the cacophony of criticism from those who don't even know her. However, intoxication doesn't always lead to tumultuous love; the stars finally align on "The Alchemy," with Taylor finding an indubitable, "once every few lifetimes" love after all the doubts and scars of her past: "I haven't come around in so long/But I'm making a comeback to where I belong." To the guy we can conclude this track is about: you know who you are, I love you.

Old Habits Die Screaming

Whether longing for comfort or trying to escape from loneliness, Taylor spins her diaristic tales in the style of the fictional characters from Folklore on tracks like "The Tortured Poets Department," "Fresh Out The Slammer" and "I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)." These tracks feel like a reflection back on those lethal loves well after the chapter has closed, dissecting the little things made the heartbreak worth it.

Am I Allowed to Cry?

Infamous in the world of Taylor Swift, track five "So Long, London" embraces its role on the album as heartwrenching, reflective, and completely devastating. Folklore and Evermore collaborator Aaron Dessner lends pulsing, haunting production that illustrates the anxious tragedy of losing love: "I stopped CPR, after all, it's no use/The spirit was gone, we would never come to/And I'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free." While "So Long, London" is laced with some resentment, Aaron-produced "loml" vulnerably bares a heartbreak that will haunt her forever: "Your arson's match, your somber eyes/I'll see until I die/You're the loss of my life."

You Don't Get to Tell Me About Sad

While so many would cower in the face of heartbreak, Taylor emerges ferocious on tracks like sardonic "Down Bad," scorching "Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine)", and fiercely triumphant "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" The latter is a different kind of heartbreak: "Cause you lured me, and you hurt me, and you taught me/You caged me, then you called me crazy/I am what I am cause you trained me/So who's afraid of me?" While a romantic heartbreak usually heals with time, life as a constant topic on people's tongues seems to have left Taylor feeling dehumanized and powerless. So no, we don't get to tell her about "sad."

Though spectators of The Eras Tour might believe“She’s having the time of her life/There in her glittering prime/The lights refract sequin stars off her silhouette every night," the cheeky, sparkly pop smash "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" mimics the facade of putting on a smile on the biggest stage (physically and metaphorically) while coping with the most human of emotions. Composed as if it's Taylor's mental mid-show monologue, "Breaking down, I hit the floor/All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting 'More!,' and coupled with production elements like in-ear backing track and the bubbling of backstage chatter, this track will be added to the list of Songs Only Taylor Swift Could Write.

In Summation

As a Member of the Tortured Poets Department, I hereby declare that our Chairman, armed with quills and daggers, glitter and lace, pain and power, has penned one of the most noteworthy achievements of her illustrious career.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED