A Look Back on Dua Lipa’s <em>Future Nostalgia</em>
Unless you’ve been lucky enough to be living under a very luxurious and sound-proof rock, the last few years have been kind of a doozy for…well, everyone involved. Pandemics, politics, and society brewing on the brink of collapse have made life after December 2019-ish seem like a never-ending film pitch being delivered against your will on a subway that simply refuses to let anyone off. However, as humankind often seems to do during times like these, we have found small ways to cope with *gestures to the air around me* all of this. One of the easiest and most accessible ways the world has seemed to persist through the perils has been through the music and one the most shining examples of that arrived in the form of icon-in-the-making Dua Lipa’s sophomore album Future Nostalgia.
As an often-too-involved member of pop culture and media consumption, my radar has been keeping tabs on Dua Lipa and her progression as an artist since 2016. She has always been one who strived for success in any task she takes on, keeping true to her Leo roots. From modeling to uploading her singing videos to her own YouTube channels, she was determined to make a name for herself no matter what it took. Even when mentors from her childhood struggled to see how her voice and its now-so-easily-recognizable lower range would stand ranks among the vocalists of pop music today, she refused to take no for an answer. And thank god she didn’t!
While it may not have happened overnight, she eventually made a name for herself and scored a record deal under the same management team(s) as Lana Del Rey. She immediately immersed herself in her craft and began writing, recording, collaborating, and creating a brand for herself. Her self-titled debut album took off as she quickly grew from small venues in Europe to multiple headlining tours over the next two years. She quickly established herself as one of the most anticipated up-and-coming acts of pop music and pop culture in general and she ended her first official album era as a household name, fashion icon, a 200+ show-performer on one album alone, and Grammy winner. But now what?
With so many eyes on her after her first album, the pressure was extreme to avoid the “sophomore slump” that can often curse new artists as they prepare to follow such a masterpiece of a debut record. However, as she always does, she tackled the challenge head-first with all her might. While her first album contained a multitude of sub-genres of a “dark pop” sound from “I love you” songs to “fuck you” songs and everything in between, she wanted her next piece of art to be thematic, cohesive, and (most importantly) a sensation. Thankfully, after a lengthy and luxurious writing retreat, that sensational work of art that is now known as Future Nostalgia was born. Five years later, it’s still stands strongly on its two feet in sparkly high heels.
As 2019 was preparing itself to end, the stage was all set. Dua had briefly disappeared from the public eye after coming under fire online for her dancing and stage presence (we’ll call this moment of history “Hipgate”). She had debuted a new hairstyle with the iconic blonde-and-black combo. She had teased what the soon-to-be-announced single would sound like. The world was on the edge of their seats for whatever the disco-esque new sound for the album would be. Needless to say, she delivered. The first two singles were met with praise and the cohesive sound (and fashion) for this new album/era was undeniable. What could possibly go wrong?
Then, 2020 happened. A global health catastrophe. Societal uproar. Leaks of the album and its never-confirmed B-Side were all over the place. Lockdown was imminent. The idea of releasing a highly-anticipated sophomore album seemed absolutely impossible with no one leaving the house to buy the album, let alone promote it through talk shows and interviews or celebrate it in bars or clubs. However, Dua reflected on everything that was happening in the world and came to the brave conclusion to release it, even moving the release date to an earlier day to try to meet the various challenges face-to-face. Once again, thank god!
While the album obviously struggled to be physically bought up in stores, the world received her gift with open arms at a time when it was needed most. The promotional aspect changed to an approach of social media posts and Zoom interviews, but the music held true. People chose to celebrate the sounds of the album that brilliantly wove traditional and historic aspects of pop music in with a fresh new sound and voice that you can’t help but adore. With very limited options presented on a global scale, people turned their living rooms and bedrooms into giant dance floors as they hopped around from “Don’t Start Now” to the iconic sisters “Levitating” and “Hallucinate” to successfully find happiness in ways they never had to before. From genius samples, interpolation, hooks, and flawless production qualities throughout, this album was (and still is) going to keep Dua Lipa’s name in households all over the world. It has even been compared to the pop masterpiece known as Teenage Dream which catapulted Katy Perry into superstardom. Even the Grammys agreed as she snagged Best Pop Vocal Album at the 63rd annual ceremony.
Fast-forward five years later and the album sounds just as fresh and entertaining as it did on March 27, 2020, a year that would have been much grimmer if she had decided to scrap the project altogether in the face of all the challenges. Though there were significant delays, she finally took the album on tour. With dazzling outfits, intoxicating choreography that officially buried Hipgate six feet under, and vocals that shined from start to finish, the Future Nostalgia tour quickly became one of the most talked-about events of 2022. From the worldwide arena tour to various headlining sets at seemingly-all major festivals, the crowd screamed every lyric and danced the night away as if the album had released that month and not almost three years prior. There were so many things that devastated the year 2020, but Future Nostalgia was one of the greatest gifts.
