Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia | Album Review 💿

Grammy-winning pop artist Dua Lipa doesn’t disappoint in the least on her incredibly engaging sophomore album, Future Nostalgia.

Dua Lipa is pretty awesome – that goes without saying! The Grammy-winning English pop artist delivered a certified bop on her self-titled debut album. “New Rules” was the biggest attraction, but the hits were endless in all honesty.  Topping that brilliant pop album = tall task.  Ultimately, Lipa proves she’s up for the challenge with her incredibly engaging, utterly consistent sophomore album, Future Nostalgia.  From start to finish, the English pop star is on autopilot.  Not only is she ‘on,’ but I dare you find a chorus that won’t get stuck in your head after listening!

“Future Nostalgia”

“You want the recipe, but can’t handle my sound / My sound, my sound (future, future nostalgia).” Dua Lipa kicks off Future Nostalgia with the hella confident, super energetic title track.  From the opening tip of ✓ “Future Nostalgia,” the pop singer is on-point, performing in an assertive, tongue-n-cheek, chanted style on the verses. On the chorus, partially excerpted above, she shows off those powerful pipes, in all their glory.

Back in October 2019, Dua Lipa returned with an electrifying, energetic single, ✓ “Don’t Start Now”, which appears as the second trac, on Future Nostalgia. “Don’t Start Now” has all the makings of a pop bop. The groove is infectious, instantly a catalyst for foot tapping, head nodding, and busting a move on the dance floor.  Further cementing the bop status are the robust bass line, keyboards, and synths (including strings).  Stylistically, “Don’t Start Now” is a neo-disco single – a pop single incorporating dance and R&B cues. Dua continues to impress with her husky, expressive lead vocals. The songwriting is catchy and quite engaging, with the focal point being matters of the heart. The chorus serves as the centerpiece of this gem:

“Don’t show up, don’t come out
Don’t start caring about me now
Walk away, you know how
Don’t start caring about me now.”

“Cool”

Following up the electric “Don’t Start Now” is no easy task.  Dua Lipa does a bang-up job with “Cool,” another memorable, well-rounded record.  All the ingredients that made “Future Nostalgia” and “Don’t Start Now” elite remain intact on “Cool.” Stuart Price and TMS give her a colorful backdrop to work with, incorporating the best of pop of old as well as that ‘futuristic’ script.  Most notably, Dua has the personality and pipes to construct a terrific performance.  Once again, the chorus ranks among the biggest selling points – catchy and energetic AF.

“Common love isn’t for us / We created something phenomenal…” Ah, sugar honey iced tea! The Grammy-winner continues to ‘lose her cool’ on ✓ “Physical”, where the love is lit AF. The sensually charged “Physical” was written by Lipa alongside Clarence Coffee Jr., Jason Evigan, and Sarah Hudson.  The production (Evigan and Stephen “KOZ” Kozmeniuk), suggests, it’s going down. Even though sex is the modus operandi, Lipa airs on tasteful fun as opposed to explicitness, hence, “Physical” is suggestive and sexy without crossing lines.  As always, she sounds incredible, continuing to spoil with those husky, top-rate pipes.  She’s playful on the verses, ‘bringing it on home’ on the centerpiece, the incredibly ‘physical’ chorus.

“Levitating” 

Picking out the most accomplished, most fun songs on Future Nostalgia is tough – there’s literally an album’s worth of bops. ✓ “Levitating” makes a compelling case among the crème de la crème, considering the ‘loving’ has the pop star rising/floating, defying gravity.  Every chorus is pretty amazing throughout Future Nostalgia, but “Levitating” hits especially hard:

“I got you, moonlight, you’re my starlight
I need you, all night, come on, dance with me
I’m levitating.”

Besides singing like a champ, Lipa wows on the chanted, tongue-n-cheek bridge, which rivals her approach on the aforementioned title track (“My love is like a rocket, watch it blast off / And I’m feeling so electric, dance my ass off”).  Things don’t slacken on follow-up “Pretty Please” where the pleasure is an essential – “Pretty please / I need your hands on me / Sweet relief / Pretty please.” One of the best moments of this particular number is the end of the pre-chorus leading into the aforementioned chorus where Lipa slows the tempo temporarily singing, “Could you help me slow it down?” before picking things back up (“Put my mind at ease…”).  Sure, that’s a specific instance, but the little details contribute to the overall success of Future Nostalgia.

“Hallucinate” 

Matters of the heart continue to dominate on the dance ready “Hallucinate,” where she loses her mind literally “when he calls her name.” Keeping the tempo quick and backed by a hard-hitting, intense backdrop (SG Lewis and Price once again). Dua Lipa doesn’t miss a beat, seven tracks in. All boxes continue to be checked off.  And just when you think ✓ “Love Again” is going to be the first ballad to grace Future Nostalgia, following a slower intro, both the groove and tempo kicks in.  KOZ produces the longest record of the album, which clocks in at over four minutes in duration.  Even so, “Love Again” continues the consistent, entertaining run Dua is on, showcasing terrific vocals, catchy songwriting, and decadent ear candy – those disco strings tho! A sample (“Your Woman” by White Town) goes a long way, sigh.

✓ “Break My Heart” shows no letdown, ranking among the best of the best gracing Future Nostalgia.  Again, fueled by sample (“Need You Tonight,” courtesy of INXS) and working with an elite production team (Watt and Monsters and Strangerz), Dua Lipa continues to slay. How so? That attitude, feistiness, and sassiness.  On the chorus, she asserts, “I would’ve stayed at home / ‘Cause I was doing better alone / But when you said, ‘Hello’ / I knew that was the end of it all.” Ultimately, she asks herself at the end of the chorus, “Am I feeling in love with the one that could break my heart?”

“Good in Bed” 

While love and sex have dominated Future Nostalgia, penultimate cut ✓ “Good in Bed” manages to separate itself from the rest.  For one, it features contrasting production work, courtesy of Lindgren and Take a Daytrip.  Sure, it’s still pop with dance and electronic sensibilities, but there’s a more soulful, old-school, hip-hop vibe compared to the preceding tracks.  This sounds like a record that someone like Amy Winehouse may have recorded had she lived.  “Good in Bed” finds Da Lipa giving us some of her most cutting, throaty vocals of the album (hence why Winehouse came to mind), not to mention a heaping dose of repetition on the infectious, tongue-n-cheek chorus:

“I know it’s really bad, bad, bad, bad, bad
Messing with my head, head, head, head, head
We drive each other mad, mad, mad, mad, mad
But baby, that’s what makes us good in bed...”

Dua Lipa concludes the tight, 11-track, 37-minute effort with “Boys Will Be Boys,” which is pretty straightforward in messaging.  While Future Nostalgia lacks a slow jam, the brief balladry of “Boys Will Be Boys” is the closest the album comes.  While Dua has shown off the versatility of her instrument throughout, this record further confirms her prowess; her skills.

Final Thoughts

All in all, Future Nostalgia is nothing short of a home run for Dua Lipa.  There are no bad songs whatsoever – no glaring miscues.  I could give you ample positives about each of the 11 songs to be honest.  Furthermore, at 37 minutes, it’s a consistent, engaging listen where you don’t find yourself skipping ahead – everything is worth listening to.  Vocally, she’s a beast.  As far as personality, she’s also a beast – nothing sounds generic.  What else is there to say? This is a fantastic pop album through and through.

✓ Gems: “Future Nostalgia,” “Don’t Start Now,” “Physical,” “Levitating,” “Love Again,” Break My Heart” & “Good in Bed”

Dua Lipa • Future Nostalgia • Warner • Release: 3.27.20

Photo Credit: Warner