Dua Lipa launches Moonlight Edition of Future Nostalgia with 4 new tracks
It is no exaggeration to say Dua Lipa ruled the pop game in all of 2020 with the campaign around her second album Future Nostalgia. The British pop star had one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful records of the year, gained Grammy nominations and had a massively successful livestream show with Studio 2054. And she is not yet done with this era! Lipa released the Moonlight Edition of the record, with four brand new tunes, of which ‘We’re Good’ serves as her new single.
The Moonlight Edition of Future Nostalgia features eight tunes which weren’t found on the original. Half of them were released some time last year though, like the addictive Angèle duet ‘Fever’, Miley Cyrus collaboration ‘Prisoner’, the version of ‘Levitating’ featuring DaBaby and ‘Un Día (One Day)’ with J. Balvin and Bad Bunny.
New track ‘We’re Good’ was chosen as single of The Moonlight Edition. The track is quite a change of pace and vibe to the majority of the actual album. It doesn’t have a disco and synth pop inspired production and is essentially a laid back, contemporary, hiphop infused pop tune. The track about deciding to call it quits in a dysfunctional relationship does have an instantly catchy chorus and Dua’s vocal performance easily draws you in, but it does not really flow with the rest of the record. It might have been better off as a stand alone single. Having said that, the video in which Lipa performs on a ship while a lobster takes over as the protagonist of the story, is clever and fun.
Both ‘If It Ain’t Me’ and ‘That Kind of Woman’ were both clearly created in the same sonic universe as the initial album. There is influences from disco and eighties synth pop to be found on both tracks. The first of the two has a funky rhythm with a production subtly leaning towards house, while the seductive synth pop chorus of the second is Dua Lipa at her finest. ‘That Kind of Woman’ is the stand out of The Moonlight Edition for me and is definitely on par with the standard edition and certainly no b-side.
Then last (and probably also least) there is ‘Not My Problem’, featuring JID. This tune with a bonkers and loud production is a sassy bop with a repetitive chorus that could get on the nerves rather quickly. The build up in the production is fire, but the tune itself just doesn’t hold up. This might be the only track in the Future Nostalgia universe that I don’t see myself coming back to more often.
Future Nostalgia: The Moonlight Edition does feel a bit like Future Nostalgia: The B-sides (with the welcome exception of ‘That Kind of Woman’), but B-sides to one of the best pop albums in recent years is still a very enjoyable addition.