3x GRAMMY and 7x BRIT Award-winning global pop powerhouse Dua Lipa has released her highly anticipated third album, Radical Optimism. The album features 11 songs including the thumping, rave-up “Illusion,” “Training Season,” and euphoric club-ready “Houdini.” You can listen to Radical Optimism here.
“I wrote this album during my singledom,” Dua says. “I always came into the studio with some funny story, and they all inspired different songs. There’s a looseness and an honesty that I hadn’t had before.”
In making the album, Dua worked with a team of core collaborators including Caroline Ailin, Danny L. Harle, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Kevin Parker.
Dua adds, “Everybody’s backgrounds and ways of working all gelled so well, as friends and musically.” She continues, “We were just so open with each other, and I felt like in that room, I could be vulnerable and talk freely about my experiences. The musicality of it felt so rich and exciting, and I wanted to dive in and be a part of that.”
Dua describes Radical Optimism as “psychedelic pop” noting that “there are musical breaks and a mix of different sounds, and when you listen to it with your eyes closed, it opens up a very visual world.” The album was inspired by Dua’s own self-discovery and speaks to the pure joy and happiness of having clarity in situations that once seemed impossible to face.
Rolling Stone has called the album “pop bliss,” while highlighting it is “uniquely and utterly Dua Lipa: confident dance pop full of witty Instagram-caption-ready one-liners.”
on May 4th, Dua will returned to Saturday Night Live where she had double duty as both host and musical guest for the night. Dua was last on SNL in 2020 when she performed “Don’t Start Now,” “Levitating” and made her sketch debut as Marjorie.
Dua recently announced the first run of tour dates in support of Radical Optimism with shows in Berlin, Pula, and Nimes taking place in June, which sold out immediately. In addition, Dua will make her Pyramid Stage debut as the Friday night headliner at this year’s Glastonbury Festival on June 28th and will play a show at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall on October 17th, the latter of which also sold out immediately.
