Music

Dua Lipa's 'Radical Optimism' is loaded with hyper-catchy bangers

By Stephen Thompson,

Reanna Cruz, Shamira Ibrahim, Liz Metzger, Hafsa Fathima, Mike Katzif, Jessica Reedy

Published May 8, 2024 at 1:27 PM EDT

<em>Radical Optimism</em> is the latest album from Dua Lipa. — *Radical Optimism* is the latest album from Dua Lipa.

The British singer Dua Lipa has become one of the world's biggest pop stars. Now, she's back with Radical Optimism, a sort of concept record about moving through life with a more mature and constructive attitude. But it's also a pretty straightforward collection of grievance-free, hyper-catchy bangers.

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Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)

See stories by Stephen Thompson

Reanna Cruz

Reanna Cruz is a news assistant for NPR Music's Alt.Latino.

Shamira Ibrahim

Shamira Ibrahim is a Brooklyn-based culture writer by way of Harlem, Canada, and East Africa, who explores identity and cultural production as a critic, reporter, feature/profile writer, and essayist. [Copyright 2024 NPR]

Liz Metzger

Hafsa Fathima

Mike Katzif

Jessica Reedy

See stories by Jessica Reedy