Get the latest gossip
Dua Lipa: Radical Optimism review – ‘psychedelic pop-infused’? Pull the other one!
The British superstar has said her new album is influenced by Britpop, rave culture and Primal Scream, but you could go mad trying to find the evidence
A more recent point of comparison might be Caroline Polachek’s Desire, I Want to Turn into You, which co-producer Danny A Harle also worked on: End of an Era carries some of the summery, flamenco-driven ambience of that album’s Sunset while French Exit applies a layer of gloss to the chattering rhythms of Bunny Is a Rider. Similarly, the production tends to subtlety: most of the sonic excitement happens in the lower end, in the busy acid lines that underpin Maria, the thunderous live drums of Falling Forever and the combination of slap bass and sprawling deep electronics behind Watcha Doing. Dua Lipa’s refusal to engage with the more soul-bearing aspects of 21st-century celebrity has made her the kind of pop star one suspects Andy Warhol might have had a lot of time for: a slightly remote, visually arresting space into which fans can project whatever they want.
Or read this on The Guardian
