Dua Lipa

i don't think the singles really felt that much like retreads - they very much sound like they're produced by kevin parker - but they're a definite step down

listening now the first track is really nice, much better than the singles

i'm kinda expecting that all the talk about being influenced by primal scream is just referring to like, the shuffling percussion in the background of "houdini"

None of the songs touch the highlights of the previous album for me, but I enjoyed my first listen. It's a little bit more all-over-the-place than I expected; after the first track I thought the through line might've been...Moloko or fin de siècle William Orbit or something, but it's less balearic than that. "Falling Forever" reminded me of a Eurovision song!

I predict it will do well across Europe, but absolutely nothing in the US.

She should've sung on the Mdou Moctar album.

"maria" sounds like "island in the sun" lol

i definitely like the tracks where it's trying to sound like moloko more than the ones that sound more obviously like tame impala

this is pretty solid, there's no real duds, but it's never really great either. i agree about it likely doing well in europe but flopping in the usa

yeah agree with that. a number of solid tracks here, particularly the closer (which really starts and ends like 10cc)

"Illusion" is still a dud though

ufo, I mostly agree with that. There aren't weak songs here, but apart from End Of An Era which I love there's nothing that touches the best moments on Future Nostalgia. I think it could grow on me after a few listens. I really like how lush and chilled out it is.

it's probably more solid as an album than future nostalgia which bizarrely fell off in the last few tracks, but it doesn't reach the same highs. i'm frustrated though because there are some good ideas that they didn't lean into enough

Meh. On first listen has none of the charm and a fraction of the hooks of Future Nostalgia.

I predict it will do well across Europe, but absolutely nothing in the US.

Sounded to me like a (flawed?) attempt to appeal more to a US “real songs” market IMO. But maybe I don’t know what I’m talkin’ ’bout.

This album isn't any more uneven than the last one. "End of an Era" is at least as much a banger as "Physical."

i like this album just fine, I think she has a solid catalog

yeah, the new album doesn't feel like a quality drop.

hands down my favorite pop star. great voice, terrible dancer, super lovable, great songs.

This album isn't any more uneven than the last one. "End of an Era" is at least as much a banger as "Physical."

― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

I'm really hooked on End of an Era at the moment. I especially love the "I've lost all my senses, la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la" bit. It's one of my favourite songs she's done.

I'm really surprised by the negative reaction this is getting online. I saw a few people call it her Solar Power which is just cold. Maria is the only one I'm not totally sold on at the moment. Even the singles have grown on me.

I'm wondering which single will be put out next. I can't really see a big Levitating moment on here.

she's my favorite recording artist of the past six years, and if people who fixate on whether a record hits #1 or not crow that she's fallen off? well I've never been hung up on fucking charts anyway and so this record is fantastic… like, it seems like chart obsessives really like math or sports, or beyhive or swifties or little monsters and people like that are really into "we're #1" triumphalism, which seems to me to be contrary to, like art and creativity and dancing and songs concerned with romance and pleasure.

I will say that she has a really interesting vocal —or pronounciative— quirk on this record… she pronounces "err" or "Urr" as "oyy": so you have "forev-oyy" instead of forever, or "nay-choyy" instead of nature.

‘Cursive singing’ is inescapable – but is it any goyidd?

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/05/cursive-singing-vocal-trend-pop-music

The sudden onboarding of this technique by Ms Lipa, of whom I am normally a big fan, has made the new record a challenging listen for me.