The glass is half full: Dua Lipa has dropped Radical Optimism! On Friday, the British singer officially released her third studio album, led by singles “Houdini,” “Training Season,” and “Illusion.”
The album was co-produced by Danny L Harle, Kevin Parker, Andrew Wyatt, and Ian Kirkpatrick and features 11 tracks that came from writing sessions that date as back as 2021. Among the tracks on the album are songs such as “End of an Era,” which she told Rolling Stone last month “was just the maddest one when we were mixing it. I listened to that one over and over again,” and “Maria,” which she said “feels very mature in the sense of growing and seeing relationships from a different perspective.”
The album captures the singer adjusting to the single life following her breakup with Anwar Hadid. (She’s in a relationship with Callum Turner now.) “Dating, I think overall, is just a little confusing,” she told Rolling Stone for a cover story earlier this year, where she announced the LP. “It’s either through friends of friends or people you trust where you can meet new people, because [dating] is not really so straightforward when you are, I guess, a public person.”
The artwork for Radical Optimism sees Lipa looking serene as she wades next to the approaching fin of a great white. “When all the images got developed, this one was the one that jumped out. I was like, ‘This is what the album represents,’” she explained. “It is that feeling of chaos and danger and unexpected things coming into your periphery and remaining calm in the face of it. It felt powerful to me.”
In the cover story interview, Lipa also said she wanted the project to “capture the essence of youth and freedom and having fun and just letting things happen, whether it’s good or bad. You can’t change it.”
Radical Optimism joins 2017’s Dua Lipa and 2020’s Future Nostalgia as Lipa’s full-length projects. Lipa kicked off the Radical era when she dropped “Houdini” in November 2023. After “Houdini” came “Training Season” in February 2024, which she performed at the Grammys and Brits. Lastly, she dropped the most recent single, “Illusion,” in mid-April.
Lipa will celebrate the release of Radical Optimism this weekend at Saturday Night Live, serving as both the musical guest and celebrity host for the evening. She’ll also connect with fans with a special Instagram Story colaboration.
From Rolling Stone US
