SayIt Posted May 2 Posted May 2 2 minutes ago, Oxygen said: I was so hype for this album… and I'm so underwhelmed with my listen so far Give it a few more listens. Maybe it is a grower?
BrokenMachine Posted May 2 Posted May 2 2 minutes ago, SayIt said: Give it a few more listens. Maybe it is a grower? Oh.. the three singles have been growers 1
Album Leak Posted May 2 Posted May 2 I had no expectations because I'm not a Dua fan, but I really like Houdini so I expected something much groovier than this. It's almost painfully mediocre, with some interesting production moments (not even entire songs, but brief moments) scattered across the album to give it a little spice, but not enough by a long shot. Maria is definitely my favorite alongside Houdini, and I'm fine taking these two songs with me and forgetting that the rest of the album even exists. This whole album is kind of giving me LOVE + FEAR by Marina, except without the actual standout tracks that makes the whole project worth it. 1
DoubleRainbow! Posted May 2 Posted May 2 17 minutes ago, scottstreet said: Don't if it's me being an pessimist rn but it feels like even the "chicken" is underperforming. Please God don't let this happen to Dua what do you mean?
hallucinate Posted May 2 Posted May 2 end of an era sounds like the perfect mid-tempo summer smash i wish the first chorus was longer though
Mark Rih Posted May 2 Posted May 2 (edited) A few thoughts after my first listens of what is another great album from Dua. The album is europop at its finest, so many influences and yet it feels cohesive. There are some elements in the production which keep the whole thing together. It's true, the psychedelic and rave culture comments led us off, but she always also said that she wanted instruments to be more prominent and to give an organic feel to the sound, which is something she achieved imo. Some are saying that the songs needed a final touch to be complete, but I feel like it was an artistic choice to leave them this way to give more of a raw feeling and less of a manufactured one. My early faves from the new ones are TW-WD-FE (a 1-2-3 punch!), with the first 2 being potential singles. Actually, WD should've been the second single.. if I had to describe it I would say Pretty Please but make it more commercial, give it a Bruno Mars twist and a touch of City Pop (aka perfection). Definitely the most US friendly song TW instead feels fresh because it's a nice change for her, guitar driven, relatable lyrics, nostalgic feeling.. give it a good video and you have a hit imo FE is just excellent instead, the production is soooo interesting, the other girls aren't doing it like her. It's one of those tracks that make the difference Coming to the others, FF is nice but I'm not a fan of the chorus. Maria is another great one, the flute is very eurocore and some elements of the production reminded me of Madonna's ROL. EOAE is a nice opener, a bop with a luxurious Mediterranean vibe, she was in her la vacanza persona. AFL is kinda random.. their were trying to be artistic I guess. Definitely the worst imo but it's still cute HFY instead is the perfect closer, love the synths at the end, I feel like it will grow on me more Overall very satisfied with the album I hope she manages to snatch a hit with WD or TW but mostly I hope it gets good reviews because she deserves. Edited May 2 by Mark Rih
Asherio Posted May 2 Posted May 2 The production in Happy for You is so immaculate. I can't get over it. 1
ATRL Moderator Oxygen Posted May 2 ATRL Moderator Posted May 2 13 minutes ago, SayIt said: Give it a few more listens. Maybe it is a grower? I hope so! The three singles are in the top 15 for my AM 2024 Replay so I’m hoping this album eventually clicks with me. 1
BlackoutZone Posted May 2 Posted May 2 1 minute ago, Asherio said: The production in Happy for You is so immaculate. I can't get over it. Right, like I'm obsessed 1 1
scottstreet Posted May 2 Posted May 2 (edited) All this talk about it being a grower is really scary because I feel like Dua is not the kind of artist people listen to the album a second time if they don't like it on first listen, and she doesn't have a huge fan base to push that agenda. Edited May 2 by scottstreet 1
Kern Posted May 2 Posted May 2 20 minutes ago, BrokenMachine said: The meltdowns in certain page And they're totally right, this site is so annoying it. So much spam and self promo 💀
SayIt Posted May 2 Posted May 2 9 minutes ago, hallucinate said: officially out for me hitting that play button right now Let us know how it goes so jealous 1
BrokenMachine Posted May 2 Posted May 2 10 minutes ago, DoubleRainbow! said: what do you mean? That not enough people seem to care about the Spoiler 1
Cottonmouth Posted May 2 Posted May 2 I'm not sure how I feel about this. Just feels like a maturer version of Future Nostalgia. None of it's bad, its just uninspired. Houdini and Training Season were definitely the right singles. I like Falling Forever too. I just don't understand her influences for this at all. I can't see anything keeping this afloat either in the long term. It just feels half-baked to me.
ATRL Moderator Oxygen Posted May 2 ATRL Moderator Posted May 2 Happy For You is the clear best new song. It’s incredible
KatyPrismSpirit Posted May 2 Posted May 2 49 minutes ago, BlackoutZone said: It feels so good to say that staying radically optimistic paid off, cause the album is pretty damn fine and I'm happy to come back from my reviewing retirement for a little one of Throughout this chaotic rollout Dua herself led us to what ended up being several misconceptions about what this album is, what does it sound like, what does it aim for. There is no point in deluding ourselves further that she went in for some psychedelic pop or adapted the sound from trip hoppy vibes likes of Massive Attack. But once you let go of it all, the album just defends itself by being really fun! As soon as End of An Era kicked in, I knew this album just won't be what we were promised (or even directly teased with the singles, especially Houdini), but it stopped mattering very quickly with how brilliant that very track is. Sparkly, joyful, effortlessly charming self calling out anthem that just overflows with personality. Future Nostalgia title track has always been a fave of mine, not just because of its sharp instrumentation, but also because of how much charm Dua shows on it. In a way, I treat End of an Era as a title track of the album too. It's the sort of unfazed euphoria, borderline delusion, but with more positive effect than harm, that I would expect from a Dua Lipa record called Radical Optimism. But moreso than optimism, the album strikes with confidence and you can't get more of it than on the record's first two singles. While I find them both to be absolute discography highlights and brilliant usage of the minds of Kevin Parker & Danny L Harle, they sort of help me notice the first problem I have with the record. It's not cohesive.. at least not enough for how conceptual and thought out it seemed to be. And don't get me wrong, Future Nostalgia was also sold as more cohesive than it actually is, but Radical Optimism seemed like a product of much tighter process and Houdini, while being a thrilling dance pop masterpiece, sonically sounds like it belongs to a different record. Training Season definitely maintains the balance more even though it belongs to the same world as Houdini, so taking this perspective, I also understand the initial idea behind Training Season being the lead single. In the end though Houdini being picked instead was sort of salutary blessing. Not only it remains the best performing track and our acclaimed little modern classic, it pushed itself into this album space firmly. I haven't thought yet if changing the tracklist order fixes the issue, but with These Walls being more breezy, adult-contemporary adjacent track, those two singles really feel kind of squeezed. Flipping the narrative a bit, I could see These Walls being a good single pick down the line. Not only is it far more representative of how lightweight Radical Optimism is, it also has this GP-friendly tinge. It's not crazy good for the gay music forum (or me personally), but it's more accessible than the overbearing pop choruses picked so far to tease the album. Unfortunately These Walls will have to step aside for now, cause the ultimate gem highlighting what's best about Dua's blissful pop and what the general public could absorb the best is without a doubt Watcha Doing. Not too much, not too little, just twinkles, sparks, vibes and grooves all in perfect proportions. It's the sound some might keep ugly-calling reductive for her, saying she needs to "switch things up". The reality is, she is the master of her craft, she has her niche and no, she is not stuck in it, she plays with it, she expands on it and Watcha Doing is a fantastic proof of her doing it well. There are so many details, all complimenting each other, but not outshining themselves at any point. All coming together like a sky full of stars. This is Dua at her best and I'm puzzled how come we weren't offered this breezy trip earlier in the rollout. But the album, as any, doesn't come without more flawed tracks. On Radical Optimism they grouped together in a 3-track run I can comfortably say is my personal bottom 3, Illusion - Falling Forever - Anything for Love. Can't say any of these are particularly bad, but they all come with some icks I find hard to ignore. Flipping what I said earlier, Illusion is like a personification of all the drags directed at Dua's sound not progressive enough with her career. It's generic, predictable and somehow still messy even with how overtly polished the house production is. Singling out particular sounds you can tell once again Kevin and Danny had their hand in its production, but none of it is coming together in an interesting harmony you'd expect from a track that was noted as a breakthrough moment of Dua's new sound. On top of that the lyrics are bad, they could be AI-generated for all we know. I can already predict that Falling Forever not being a highlight must be a rare case, but the track's arguably only issue sadly manifests itself all over its, or any pop song's really, core part - the chorus is jarring. Not only is the production so staggering the track quickly turns into some Eurovision entry from Georgia, but Dua's vocal run, while impressive, is not vibrant or toned enough to be pleasant to the ears. Still though elsewhere the track offers a lot of cool elements, notably in the bridge. The third "offender", Anything For Love, deserves as little of a write up as the song has to offer. It seems to be trying to achieve sort of unfiltered rawness like an indie-baiting concept track, but neither does Dua pull it off well, not it deserves a place on a strikingly polished dance pop record. It's just an undercooked, unfinished demo that ends before it really starts. Safe to say the team of Ian Kirkpatrick and Julia Michaels long squeezed what's best of them for Dua already. Luckily there are two more bangers elsewhere on the record. Both Maria and French Exit offer slightly ethnic, more ungrounded vibe which doesn't contribute much to the earlier noted cohesion of the record, but they fill their own different lane that will definitely find its fans as well. To me they compromise for some of the long lost Future Nostalgia outtakes that didn't make the record not because they weren't good enough, but because they just didn't fit. It was easier to place that kind of sound on Radical Optimism. Last, but not least, or even, best, for last. Happy For You. This is the song that I've been waiting for, from first winds of Kevin Parker being the producer of the album to Dua immensely hyping it as her pride and one of the most important pieces she's ever written. It's a grand finale that truly combines the spirit of "the band", the very people who were a part of this process from the beginning till the end. It's a powerful nostalgia filled, credits-rolling moment of the album, it's impossible to imagine anything else as a closer. It's also definitely the most Tame Impala track of Radical Optimism with Kevin's signature wobbly synthesized voice-passages and harsh, rough, drum patterns. A part of me wishes elsewhere on the record we got vibes this close to the genius of the Currents' mastermind. It feels a bit pointless to write thoughts that will probably shift so much over time, but what I know for sure, is that Ms Lipa delivered another colorful, airy, yet steadfast pop record that I will gladly cherish for years to come. It might not be the monumental beacon that Future Nostalgia was, but it's a notable milestone is her already delightful career. Omg I waited for this 1
Owlie Posted May 2 Posted May 2 I definitely hope it's a grower. Some songs clicked right away but in general it wasn't a stong album. Just.. good.
Asherio Posted May 2 Posted May 2 6 minutes ago, scottstreet said: All this talk about it being a grower is really scary because I feel like Dua is not the kind of artist people listen to the album a second time if they don't like it on first listen, and she doesn't have a huge fan base to push that agenda. To be fair, Houdini is 5 months old and still pulling very good numbers. Usually Dua performs well long term.
DoubleRainbow! Posted May 2 Posted May 2 5 minutes ago, BrokenMachine said: That not enough people seem to care about the Reveal hidden contents hopefully they are all waiting for the official release
BlackoutZone Posted May 2 Posted May 2 5 minutes ago, KatyPrismSpirit said: This album is an easy 8.4/10 Kinda would give it the same score yeah. 8.2 - 8.4 2
curiousladybug Posted May 2 Posted May 2 3 minutes ago, Cottonmouth said: Just feels like a maturer version of Future Nostalgia. I'm totally okay with people not liking this record but I am honestly so confused by comments like this.. Please can you elaborate in which way this album feels like any version of Future Nostalgia? It really doesn't take a professional to hear the complete sonical departure from her previous album. This comment along with others who in any way can compare these two albums are straight up nonsense at this point. Did we hear the same album or are you listening to some kind of fake leak that is made up of Future Nostalgia b sides?
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