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Radical Optimism • Third Album

Juan Carlos
in Dua Lipa

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The strong physical sales prove Dua has built a fanbase since Future Nostalgia and her career is far from over. I think Dua's dad has seen the opportunity for Dua to sell and benefit from physical sales and put a lot of effort into promoting that. Only after he started managing Dua did her singles start being released on physicals. The bundles on her store were appealing, the gifs of her with the vinyls and cassettes, the lenticular CD, the art cards and the notebook.

 

It was hard for me at the beginning of the week to read so many people writing negatively about Dua and how she is flopping in all corners of the internet. I was considering taking a break from this forum and social media so I could just enjoy the album without the doom and gloom background noise :lol:

 

The streaming numbers still concern me. It was down to 10M globally yesterday. I'm nervous about today's numbers but hopeful it can still stabilize. I wonder if the numbers would have been better if they chose a better focus track for playlists than the MOR These Walls?

The streaming/sales breakdown comparison with FN indicates that although Dua’s core fanbase has grown quite a bit from era-to-era, casual fans (more likely to stream) aren’t so impressed.
Yeah, I've been thinking about how she recorded 50-60 songs for this album and decided to put 'Anything For Love' on there. It's most bizarre.

I feel like they cheated us by including an interlude-like track on an already short album with 3 pre-album singles. It's so odd. And another poor move for the album's streaming numbers as seen in the daily updates, a lot of people are skipping Anything For Love

A new edition by year end I feel is certain.

The album has had a successful debut week and better than many people thought

It is a good album even though many songs sound the same.

I bought the first two albums the day of release but even when DL1 came out I was buying the album casually but was a fan of the singles. FN will probably be her signature album for me. I think I was slightly underwhelmed with this third album as I love Houdini and I actually prefer Illusion now over Training Season.

 

The only tracks I’m not connecting with is French Exit and Anything for Love.

 

As for my favourites, album track wise, I’m loving End of an Era and Happy For You. Maria was also a pleasant surprise.

The album is still doing 10M daily on Spotify

 

Here's the update for yesterday (11th May) and the changes since Thursday update (9th May):

 

End Of An Era 803,123 -71,491 (-8.17%)

Houdini 1,698,312 -105,710 (-5.86%)

Training Season 1,819,867 -14,098 (-0.76%)

These Walls 1,437,255 -236,859 (-14.15%)

Whatcha Doing 513,039 -89,224 (-14.81%)

French Exit 393,417 -72,697 (-15.60%)

Illusion 1,855,897 -70,441 (-3.66%)

Falling Forever 519,325 -52,283 (-9.16%)

Anything For Love 295,642 -60,049 (-16.88%)

Maria 361,573 -73,622 (-16.91%)

Happy For You 383,231 -44,704 (-10.45%)

I have to admit that after my first listen of 'Radical Optimism' (on release day) I was a bit "oh... not what I expected" about it. Not that I thought it was bad, but I guess I needed to readjust what my initial expectations were. On the second/third listens it began to make more sense to me as being a pleasantly summery and chilled listen, as opposed to being an album packed with more Houdinis. I do believe that the three singles painted a different picture of what the album could be like, compared to what it actually serves.

 

Is this album full of potential singles? I wouldn't say so, but funnily enough the song that stands out to me as an obvious contender is 'These Walls'. Which, to my surprise, is the song that appears to be getting the most negative feedback on BuzzJack*. I'm not saying that 'These Walls' is the most interesting song on the album by any means, but I found it to be the most instantly catchy, and it really sounds like it would dominate on radio. I think simplicity is key with this one. Aspects of the instrumental kind of puts me in mind of a certain type of Gwen Stefani song, Natalie Imbruglia... that easy listening pop/rock flavour from the late 90s / early 00s. Also the sort of song I could see Kelly Clarkson performing a fantastic "Kellyoke" version of.

 

I know that some listeners have opined that the album doesn't give much of an insight into Dua's personal life / that it's not relatable (not something I consider to be a problem). However I think 'These Walls' lyrically has the universal relatability factor that could strike a chord with people. Also I know she's been hit with the "she's so samey" accusations, as in "this is another Dua Lipa sounding song by Dua Lipa". I wouldn't say that 'These Walls' could be accused of that. On that note I think 'Happy for You' would also be her offering something different as a single, but that seems to be suffering with being the closing track even though she gave it a specific promotional push with performances.

 

'Anything for Love' is a frustrating song... it's the only song on the album that I have a particular problem with. Frustrating in the sense that it easily could have been more than it is. Talky intros can be annoying/contrived and I fear this one is, sadly. Using that gimmick on such a short song - criminal! Then after the intro it meanders until it finally gets going into something that sounds special, something that could lift it into album highlight territory... but when that happens, the song is almost over! :lol: It's not a song I'll seek out for isolated plays, only when I'm giving the album a full play.

 

Ultimately I'd say that while 'Radical Optimism' hasn't rocked my world, I do like it - and that's enough for me to be happy with it. I'm sure I'll keep returning to it over the summertime!

 

 

* Particularly as it has almost universal praise in Dua's Popjustice thread, and that's a forum with members who are very willing to be critical if they're not feeling something!

I get the comment about These Walls sounding great on radio and having that guitar-led 90s sound but I doubt it would take off on streaming. Dua should create a single mix with maybe a collab on either End of an Era or These Walls. Nothing else screams single.
Falling Forever is easily the best choice for single imo (followed by End of an Era) but nothing else screams it as blatantly to me.

^^

 

Yeah, I agree.

 

All three singles are about to exit Top 200 Spotify...and it's kinda crazy to me how fast they're dropping in all honesty. I thought album would gave them some legs for few months!!!

She’s surely going to attempt another release? Doesn’t she have Glasto & other promo coming up?
I agree with Jay about 'Anything for Love', the good bit of it, is an album highlight, but as soon as it reaches to those highs it's pretty much over. A fully formed version of the last minute of the song could have been the best song on the album.
Falling Forever is easily the best choice for single imo (followed by End of an Era) but nothing else screams it as blatantly to me.

 

Even that I doubt would trouble the top 40 :unsure: it’s definitely one of the songs that standout on the album but after the “how looooOOOOoooOOOng” bit it’s a bit forgettable lol

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