"Future Nostalgia" - Dua Lipa
With this album, Dua invites us into her futuristic, exciting and innovative universe, with a track list that makes you feel as if you are floating around in space. When this album came out, I did the proper thing, and listened to it from start to finish (I literally never do that, but as I have started to understand the huge thought that gets put into every single detail of an album, I figured I had to do it) As I said, artists often have a meaning with the order the songs appear in.
“Future Nostalgia” was the first song I listened to, and I remember immediately sending it to my sister alongside of the words “THIS IS SO DIFFERENT, I LOVE IT.” And it really was different. With classic pop songs as "Blinding Lights", "Dance Monkey" and "Stupid Love" being on top of the music charts around that time in March 2020, this type of track was something completely different. According to me, it is one of the most important tracks on this album, because it really sets the scene for what the listener is about to experience for the next 40 minutes; a disco party in a spaceship up amongst the stars and planets, where you are dancing your way through the milky way. That's the experience to expect.
In this song, Dua uses “sprechstimme” in the verses and bridge, which is a way of combining talking and singing. She talks with a rhythm and pitch in such way, you could argue she is actually rapping. The reason why this works in this particular song, is because her articulation is rapid and loose like speech, but still in key and pitch. It's definitely a statement. Who doesn’t love themselves a little British “sprechstimme” ????
Something else i love love love on this track, is her clear British accent. She doesn’t normally hide her accent at all, but on this track, it really gets pushed to the front, and ends up really taking the song to a whole other level.
“Don’t Start Now” is the second track I want to highlight, as it really made its way into everyone’s hearts in the fall of 2019 (Including mine duhhhh.) This track was her lead single for the “Future Nostalgia” album, and is without a doubt, one of her most successful songs. Produced by producer and songwriter Ian Kirkpatrick, this song was guaranteed to be a success production-wise. And it truly was! What also made this song the real talk of the town, was Lipa’s iconic EMA performance in the beginning of November 2019. One of the unfortunate things that has been following her through her career, is her very bad stage-presence. This performance was her way of proving everyone wrong, and showing she is truly here to stay. Later on, this performance has become one of the most important moments in the chapter of the new and improved disco queen, Dua Lipa. But did she lose a part of herself by changing into the artist everyone wanted her to be? Switching her strong pop ballads out with disco-hits? Changing her entire aesthetic? A part of me always wondered how much of Dua there really was to find in this switch up, and how much the management had to say.
“Love Again” is the third and last track I want to highlight from “Future Nostalgia”. Dua mentioned how she wrote it whilst going through a heartbreak, and by reading through the lyrics, this vulnerability becomes very clear and is definitely one of her more honest songs on the album. Despite of this vulnerability, I love her optimistic twist. This could easily have been one of those “I’ll never find love again” sob songs that is to find everywhere these days, but she chose to make it a song about finding a way of surviving a heartbreak - of course this can only be done by finding a new guy (spot the irony)
First, we get introduced to a sample of “Your Woman” by White Town, which was an idea from songwriter and producer Clarence Coffee Jr. (who also is a major co-songwriter on this album) as a way of making the track more “dancey.” If you ask me, the sample is the element that makes this song exceptional. Without it, I’m not sure I would have found it equally as interesting, nor catchy. It is also one of Lipa’s more subtle songs on the album. Not a lot of instruments are used on this track, and it makes room for her deep and raspy voice to really shine through. Where the majority of the songs on her album are more “busy”, I found it pleasant to have some variation.
Overall, this album is one of my absolute favourite albums ever made. There are no skips, and nothing makes me want to dance more than putting on this album. Genius songwriters, amazing producers, and Dua Lipa has never sounded better.
This album really brought electronic pop back into mainstream music, and later on, it's clear that several of artists have been inspired by this particular album. In other words, "Future Nostalgia" really made its mark on the music industry. And I think it will stand as one of the strongest albums in a very long time.