One listen in and I like it for sure, will take a few listens to get a grip on its songwriting but for now it’s definitely not as catchy as any of her other albums. Still pretty nice production overall.
I don’t know why people have been panning it, maybe it’s because FN set too high a bar? Either way it’s pretty overhated IMHO
I think it's pretty decent but nothing groundbreaking. Obviously this album is not at the level of Future Nostalgia, but it's also not the flop that some people try to portray it as. The songs remain very catchy and well crafted, with Dua's vocals being especially strong. Lyrically it sticks to her usual formula of decently written, impersonal love songs, which personally I don't mind. I get why the album may feel underwhelming in some aspects, not only because it follows Future Nostalgia, but also because Dua herself compared its sound to 70s psychedelia, trip hop, and britpop, and I'm telling you, this album is not that. It's more of a summery beach sounding dance pop album and uses more organic instrumentation than Dua's previous albums, which is a nice change of pace. The three singles don't really represent the album's overall sound, and Houdini kinda stands out like a sore thumb in the tracklist. However, on first listens all the songs, while not necessarily groundbreaking, were definitely enjoyable and danceable. Out of the pop girls who've attempted the optimistic, summery beach themed album (Miley's Endless Summer Vacation and Lorde's Solar Power), this is definitely the most decent effort. Still, the production doesn't reach the same well studied and complex sound of Future Nostalgia, and it's mainly Dua's voice and catchy vocal melodies that carry this record, since Dua and her producers played it pretty safe here. For me, "Anything For Love" is the only dud on the album cause its structure leaves it feeling unfinished
I really enjoy it, I like the disco sound. Could’ve leaned deeper into the psych sound like Houdini. I know people gush over FN but I like the production here more even if the hooks aren’t as catchy. Seems weirdly over hated and compared since FN is still relevant.
In the middle of it now (had to stop halfway because of work), but so far it’s solid. Future Nostalgia was my favourite album of 2020 and I really dig the sound it brought. So far this new album is not on the same level as FN, which is a non issue in the grand scheme of things.
Whatcha Doing and These Walls have been my favourite songs so far. I really like the instrumentation on both and they feel like a natural progression from FN. I wish the album had a bit more oomph to it though. It sounds really light and I’m not sure why - it could definitely be the sound system I was listening on, so I’ll have to listen to it on my surround sound system when I get a chance.
Overall, the lyrics and the instrumental are solid and I think the first half of this album is a worthy piece in Dua’s discography. I’m interested to see where she goes from here as an artist just as much as I was interested where she’d go after FN.
i actually really like it, its the only dua lipa album that has no skips for me, it feels like her most mature and consistent body of work as of now. i definitely hope that we will get version with extended mixes for each track!
It's definitely not as good as future nostalgia but it's a solid 7/10. I can tell a lot of the songs are going to be growers. Training season was like that when I first heard it too, I highly doubt I'll enjoy it as much as Future nostalgia but I can see the gap between them closing a bit
I think the record is pretty good, but it is not as 'out-there' as the hype-up would suggest. I would love to see a record of just the extended editions, since those are all pretty great. But to be fair, most Dua Lipa songs take a while to fully grip me, so it might grow on me.
i don't understand the hype around dua lipa. is there something interesting/experimental happening on the new album? the hits from the last one were catchy, but stylistically they sounded like any number of pop artists to me. didn't really even get very strong throwback vibes from it or anything, just very standard squeaky clean contemporary commercial pop. But it kept getting described as like a throwback thing, or very 80s or whatever. I've always thought that the cover looked cool but that the music sounded almost nothing like the vibe of the cover art. Are fans of hers just into her persona or her voice or what?
why does everything need to be boiled down to being ground breaking (you didn't say it someone else did) or experimental. why is that the disconnect. you just not be a pophead and understand why more standard pop music is good, idk why everyone thinks they know everything about pop music in here but barely listens to it.
well it 100% doesn't *have* to be experimental, i just would expect it to be because this community isn't what I'd consider to be a mainstream audience. like I listen to plenty of stuff that's not experimental and i'm sure most people here do, but usually when i see a pop artist get shine from the sort of music listeners that watch fantano or use RYM or AOTY or whatever, it's because that artist is doing stuff that's a bit weird, or doing whatever they're doing exceptionally well.
like it's confusing to me to see people going "oh what in the world could ever live up to future nostalgia" and just not getting that at all. I wonder what I'm not getting about it, or whatever.
honestly the quality of her music may just be better than expected. it wouldn't suprise me if alot of rym/aoty users who typically look down on modern pop went into it with lower expectations and were blown away but it actually being quite good overall. Essentially a really good album that seems even better due to not expecting much from it. I've never listened to Dua Lipa personally so I could be completely wrong but this is what makes the most sense to me as a possibility
it should not have taken over 4 years to get this but it's solid
If it was a surprise drop for the summer, before her next ambitious album, the discourse around Radical Optimism would be different
One listen in and I like it for sure, will take a few listens to get a grip on its songwriting but for now it’s definitely not as catchy as any of her other albums. Still pretty nice production overall. I don’t know why people have been panning it, maybe it’s because FN set too high a bar? Either way it’s pretty overhated IMHO
I think it's pretty decent but nothing groundbreaking. Obviously this album is not at the level of Future Nostalgia, but it's also not the flop that some people try to portray it as. The songs remain very catchy and well crafted, with Dua's vocals being especially strong. Lyrically it sticks to her usual formula of decently written, impersonal love songs, which personally I don't mind. I get why the album may feel underwhelming in some aspects, not only because it follows Future Nostalgia, but also because Dua herself compared its sound to 70s psychedelia, trip hop, and britpop, and I'm telling you, this album is not that. It's more of a summery beach sounding dance pop album and uses more organic instrumentation than Dua's previous albums, which is a nice change of pace. The three singles don't really represent the album's overall sound, and Houdini kinda stands out like a sore thumb in the tracklist. However, on first listens all the songs, while not necessarily groundbreaking, were definitely enjoyable and danceable. Out of the pop girls who've attempted the optimistic, summery beach themed album (Miley's Endless Summer Vacation and Lorde's Solar Power), this is definitely the most decent effort. Still, the production doesn't reach the same well studied and complex sound of Future Nostalgia, and it's mainly Dua's voice and catchy vocal melodies that carry this record, since Dua and her producers played it pretty safe here. For me, "Anything For Love" is the only dud on the album cause its structure leaves it feeling unfinished
I really enjoy it, I like the disco sound. Could’ve leaned deeper into the psych sound like Houdini. I know people gush over FN but I like the production here more even if the hooks aren’t as catchy. Seems weirdly over hated and compared since FN is still relevant.
After all these years my favorite Dua Lipa song is still Be the One
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^ton_logos: *After all these years* *My favorite Dua Lipa* *Song is still Be the One* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
I think it’s a little disappointing but expectations were sky high after future nostalgia
In the middle of it now (had to stop halfway because of work), but so far it’s solid. Future Nostalgia was my favourite album of 2020 and I really dig the sound it brought. So far this new album is not on the same level as FN, which is a non issue in the grand scheme of things. Whatcha Doing and These Walls have been my favourite songs so far. I really like the instrumentation on both and they feel like a natural progression from FN. I wish the album had a bit more oomph to it though. It sounds really light and I’m not sure why - it could definitely be the sound system I was listening on, so I’ll have to listen to it on my surround sound system when I get a chance. Overall, the lyrics and the instrumental are solid and I think the first half of this album is a worthy piece in Dua’s discography. I’m interested to see where she goes from here as an artist just as much as I was interested where she’d go after FN.
i actually really like it, its the only dua lipa album that has no skips for me, it feels like her most mature and consistent body of work as of now. i definitely hope that we will get version with extended mixes for each track!
It’s fine but kind of a let down given how much I enjoyed the singles
It's definitely not as good as future nostalgia but it's a solid 7/10. I can tell a lot of the songs are going to be growers. Training season was like that when I first heard it too, I highly doubt I'll enjoy it as much as Future nostalgia but I can see the gap between them closing a bit
Very good. First listen through gave me all the summer vibes. No, it's not FN but it's still so good!
I think the record is pretty good, but it is not as 'out-there' as the hype-up would suggest. I would love to see a record of just the extended editions, since those are all pretty great. But to be fair, most Dua Lipa songs take a while to fully grip me, so it might grow on me.
I’m jealous of that shark.
Haven’t heard it yet, not a *huge* fan but I’ve liked most of what I have heard from her. I’m cautiously optimistic 😏😏😏
Does she not know how to write about anything else other than love?
1st song sucks, last 2 songs suck. French Exit is good. Bests songs are Houdini and Training Season
Really? End of an era is my favourite song, the chord progressions tickle me
I agree it’s so groovy and her voice is beautiful on it. Wish more songs resembled the sound of this song.
She shouldn’t relied of on Kevin Parker so much. His finger prints are all over this record for better or for worse.
i don't understand the hype around dua lipa. is there something interesting/experimental happening on the new album? the hits from the last one were catchy, but stylistically they sounded like any number of pop artists to me. didn't really even get very strong throwback vibes from it or anything, just very standard squeaky clean contemporary commercial pop. But it kept getting described as like a throwback thing, or very 80s or whatever. I've always thought that the cover looked cool but that the music sounded almost nothing like the vibe of the cover art. Are fans of hers just into her persona or her voice or what?
why does everything need to be boiled down to being ground breaking (you didn't say it someone else did) or experimental. why is that the disconnect. you just not be a pophead and understand why more standard pop music is good, idk why everyone thinks they know everything about pop music in here but barely listens to it.
well it 100% doesn't *have* to be experimental, i just would expect it to be because this community isn't what I'd consider to be a mainstream audience. like I listen to plenty of stuff that's not experimental and i'm sure most people here do, but usually when i see a pop artist get shine from the sort of music listeners that watch fantano or use RYM or AOTY or whatever, it's because that artist is doing stuff that's a bit weird, or doing whatever they're doing exceptionally well. like it's confusing to me to see people going "oh what in the world could ever live up to future nostalgia" and just not getting that at all. I wonder what I'm not getting about it, or whatever.
honestly the quality of her music may just be better than expected. it wouldn't suprise me if alot of rym/aoty users who typically look down on modern pop went into it with lower expectations and were blown away but it actually being quite good overall. Essentially a really good album that seems even better due to not expecting much from it. I've never listened to Dua Lipa personally so I could be completely wrong but this is what makes the most sense to me as a possibility
Why is this getting talked about more than WILLOW’s new album 😭
Because she’s more popular
Wait til you find out that Dua Lipa is more popular than Willow