Sometimes in the whimsical world of pop, it’s not so much about the tempo, but the timing — the temperature of the moment.
Such was the case when Dua Lipa — the “New Rules” breakout who went from working the runway to working the dance floor with her self-titled 2017 debut.
The 28-year-old diva seemed destined to be one of those Best New Artist Grammy winners we never heard from again back in 2019. (Think Taste of Honey, who “Boogie Oogie Oogied” into oblivion after nabbing that gramophone in 1979.)
But against all social media haters, Lipa flipped the script — right along with her perfectly tossed tresses — when she turned lockdown into a getdown with her second album, “Future Nostalgia,” as the lowest of the pandemic blues was setting in at the end of March 2020.
In fact, with such little space left on the dance floor of our minds, Lipa basically beat-blocked none other than Lady Gaga from getting into the quarantine groove when her superior set, “Chromatica,” dropped in May 2020.
After “Future Nostalgia” won the Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy in 2021, there was no stopping Lipa now — and the British-Albanian artist struck the perfect pose for last year’s “Barbie” blockbuster with another unshakable hit, “Dance the Night.”
But in 2024, when “Dance the Night” was defeated by Billie Eilish’s “Barbie” ballad “What Was I Made For?” everywhere it counted — hell, Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” even got more awards-season love — it seemed as if Lipa might be about to pull a “Houdini” and vanish from pop-diva preeminence.
Hold for the plot twist, though: Just when Beyoncé went country with “Cowboy Carter” and Taylor Swift went moody — again — with “The Tortured Poets Department,” Lipa brings the bop back to pop with her third album “Radical Optimism.”
And again, her timing is perfect to send us shimmying into summer.
This album is gonna keep you bouncing through whatever you’re going through this season.
If it sounds a lot like “Future Nostalgia Pt. 2,” well, that’s not such a bad thing, is it? No doubt, Lipa’s last LP is the twirling template for “Radical Optimism.”
You’ve probably already heard the tempo-setting singles: “Houdini,” “Training Season” and “Illusion” — all solid, none core-shaking.
Well, there’s more where that came from here: Thumping yet tuneful tracks — from the euphoric “Falling Forever” to the Latin-laced “Maria” — keep the party pumping.
Even more midtempo tracks such as “These Walls,” a bittersweet slow fade, and “French Exit,” which puts a dance-floor twist on “Irish exit,” have a summer breeziness to them that will not kill the barbecue vibe.
And there will hardly be any Swiftian dissection of these lyrics to put your mind to work at the beach. Lipa exes Anwar Hadid (younger brother of Gigi and Bella), Trevor Noah and French filmmaker Romain Gavras are all safe from any pen assassination here.
Is “Radical Optimism” anything new? Not at all. Despite what “End of an Era” — the opening track, showcasing the singer’s sultry, jazz-kissed delivery — suggests, this is Lipa staying in her catwalk-strutting lane.
But sometimes “New Rules” need not be applied.