Berceuse devotees and roisterers have found the most seldom non-too-murky magical muse in Dua Lipa. A rightfully so, leviathan of a deal, with a neck carrying twenty-five tongue-tied-averse muscles; similarly, to Goliath, she — stroking her ego like no other — dominantly carries heavy-duty tunes. How communicable and pleasant-sounding her colossal voice is; plainly, getting through any beat thrown at her, is child’s play.
Roaring, as the hi-fi speakers start to bump up playlists and her donuts are on rotation; no one dares to steal the English-Albanian cosmopolitan Pop ball of fire’s thunder. Enjoying the fruits of her labour, a titan is potentially born: Dua’s birdcall — ‘Illusion’ — is out now!
In the same manner a Quislingism was foreseeable when her pop lulu smacked ‘Houdini’ prior to ‘Training Season’ becoming a sprout of big hoo-hahs hotly nipping her lips; this a la mode number ‘Illusion’, was produced by British ballad versifier Danny L. Harle as well as Australian — singer bard, musician, record producer and Disc Jockey — Kevin Parker (Tame Impala).
By stretching out their deft hands further, beyond working wizardry behind the boards — in conjunction with Norwegian vocalist and rhymester Caroline Ailin, as well as Canadian artiste Tobias Jesso Jr.; Harle and Parker would lawfully so, pick up pens — to co-write the dewy behind the ears jam, adding-on Dua’s composing whizz!
‘Illusion’ was the first song Caroline, Danny, Tobias, Kevin and I worked on together, and it really broke the ice for the record. It’s about knowing what you’re getting yourself into, but staying for the hell of it. The joke’s on them, it’s the fun of playing someone at their own game because ultimately you won’t fall for an illusion,” Dua Lipa said.
Incarnated, accompanying the up-to-the-second hatch, is an ardently construed blood-and-guts juggernaut of expressive avant-garde exposing through filmic. An all but certain sustaining momentum — precursor of some sort; a lure closely keeping — savouring and catching on the science of taking heed and keen-sighting — audiences, in the hotness of razzmatazz! A cradled oar cemented, ahead of May 3; the official day the decidedly presumed full-on donut oeuvre termed ‘Radical Optimism’, shall snuffle its outsize premiere and shoulder a notch in the magnum opus Monarchy!
Tetyana Robertivna Muinyo — a Ukrainian music video director, designer, stylist, photographer and film director — known publicly as Tanu Muino; directed the tonal pattern video for ‘Illusion’. Watching minutes tick by, the graphic features Dua alongside dancers, high divers, and synchronised swimmers at the Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc in Barcelona, Spain.
This super cute means of telling exposé through illustration, culminates with the (3x) Grammy and (7x) Brit award-winning artist climbing a castell-inspired tower, a reference to the infamous Catalonian tradition! The iconic pool served as the location for the visual companion piece to ‘Slow’, a banger from one of Dua Lipa’s favourite pop idols Kylie Minogue — an Australian singer, songster and actress.
Enthused by Dua’s particular self-discovery, ‘Radical Optimism’ is an album that taps into the uncontaminated joy and contentment of having clarity in a state of affairs that on one occasion looked as if they were impossible to face. The hard goodbyes and vulnerable initial stages that hitherto threatened to crush your soul, turn out to be milestones as you elect buoyancy and start to traffic with grace through the bedlam.
‘Radical Optimism’ conveys a strengthened rather than severed listener to a dreamy pop biosphere rich in musicality, lyrically unrepentant and sonically liberating. Hullabaloo in that drop dead gorgeously piercing “stupid funk”; like ‘Training Season’ and ‘Houdini’ (with over 300 million streams worldwide), the thumping rave up canon — ‘Illusion’ — come on the identical treadle of hit ditties, smashing and grabbing the lion’s share of the aptitude, the nigh hip vibe lullaby craft track list stomachs.
Still incapacitating miscellaneous steeplechases, Dua Lipa freshly proclaimed the first run of tour dates; in support of the puffed-up Sculpt of melody (‘Radical Optimism’), that is on the brink of a halo ova delivery. An anthem offering which besides being called “pop bliss” by a monthly magazine that focuses on euphony, politics, and popular culture — Rolling Stone; was also noted as a masterwork of blasts insinuating — “uniquely and utterly Dua Lipa: confident dance pop full of witty Instagram-caption-ready one-liners.”
Her brave get-up-and-go hallucination doable, while shows in Berlin, Pula and Nimes — getting afoot in June — sold out instantly; in addition, the two-time Guinness World Records holder counted in on the Time 100 Next list in 2021, will play a show at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall on October 17.
nGrant Moyo is a prolific writer, innovative media personality, entrepreneur and a creative artist who is passionate about using his creative mind for the betterment of society. Follow him on X: @TotemGrant
