Dua Lipa finally drops long awaited debut album
It was against all odds that Dua Lipa finally released her debut album this weekend. The British pop star had her breakthrough at the end of 2015 when her single ‘Be The One’ started to turn into a sleeper hit, but time after time, the release of her self titled record got delayed and for an upcoming artist this is never a good sign and often we see them getting dropped from their label soon after. Even Lipa’s fans started to doubt if they would ever get to hear a full album by their favourite pop starlet, but perseverance and determination made her debut record see the light of day!

After the release of ‘Be The One’ which became a proper hit around Europe in 2016, Lipa continued with a long string of singles with mixed successes including ‘Last Dance’, ‘Hotter Than Hell’ and ‘Blow Your Mind (Mwah)’, all proper pop bangers. When the June release date was announced Lipa started to show other sides to her art as well with the mysterious and dark ‘Room For 2’ and the guitar ballad ‘Thinking ‘Bout You’. To give the release a last push she dropped the swinging and laidback disco inspired Miguel duet ‘Lost In Your Light’. The new tracks make for a perfect balance with a majority of contemporary uptempo pop, but enough change of pace for Lipa to fully show off the potential of her voice.

Album opener ‘Genesis’, a slick tune about wanting to go back to the beginning of a relationship to feel in love again and midtempo ‘No Goodbyes’ describing the last night of a love affair that is doomed for failure are both flawlessly produced and lyrically engaging, but it is ‘New Rules’ that seems the most obvious choice for next single. In terms of production this it the boldest track of the record, but at the same time could work well on radio these days. Also: “One, don’t pick up the phone, you know he’s only calling ’cause he’s drunk and alone. Two, don’t let him in, you’ll have to kick him out again. Three, don’t be his friend, you know you’re gonna wake up in his bed in the morning. And if you’re under him, you ain’t getting over him”, is quite the brilliant pop lyric.

When Dua Lipa is not writing pop bangers (yes, she co-wrote every single song except for ‘Be The One’) she does pretty well with pouring her heart out on slower songs as well. Sometimes she goes for big and dramatic (on the vivacious ‘Garden’), but she impresses even more on ‘Homesick’, which is co-written by and features backing vocals from Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Her raw vocal style shines on this small and personal song.

The fact that Dua Lipa managed to get a debut album out that she is properly happy with after multiple delays, shows she has the right attitude to make it as a pop star. And just as important, she has the material to back it up. Of course the long traject towards this release killed some of the hype, but she still delivered some of the best proper pop bangers of the past two years and shows she is a versatile vocalist. This could be the promising start of a long lasting career!