“Who wants moreeeeeee?” With that teasing caption, Dua Lipa sent her more than 88 million Instagram followers into a flurry of anticipation on March 12 as she seemingly primed for a major announcement with a slideshow of behind-the-scenes snaps.
Just one day later, the three-time GRAMMY winner announced her hotly anticipated third album, Radical Optimism, was officially on its way — complete with a May 3 release date, first look at the cover art, a complete tracklist and more. Lipa couldn’t contain her excitement about the project, punctuating her all-caps caption with a string of more than a dozen exclamation points.
The album announcement arrives on the heels of a celebratory awards season for Lipa, who was nominated for two golden gramophones (including Song Of The Year) at the 2024 GRAMMYs for “Dance The Night” and opened the telecast with an electrifying medley of her singles “Houdini” and “Training Season.” Additionally, her disco-infused Barbie banger scored a nod for Best Original Song at the 2024 Golden Globes and three separate nominations at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards.
Below, GRAMMY.com rounded up everything there is to know about Dua Lipa’s upcoming era of Radical Optimism.
The Pop Star Is Nearly Upstaged In Her Wet And Wild Cover Art
In her announcement, Lipa shared the cover art for her forthcoming studio set and the result is nothing short of jaw-dropping. Shot by Tyrone Lebon, the image depicts the English Albanian pop star out at sea, her dark hair slicked back as she bobs in the ocean wearing a shiny gold ensemble with matching jewelry against a sun-streaked sky.
However, it’s entirely possible that, upon first glance, the “Dance The Night” singer isn’t the first thing fans will notice when they see the artwork. That’s because she shares the frame with a fearsome co-star: a shark glides past her in the foreground, its fin slicing ominously through the water’s surface.
The Tracklist Announces The “End Of An Era”
Lipa’s fans, whom she notably refers to as “my loves,” may still be obsessed with her GRAMMY-winning sophomore album Future Nostalgia, but the pop star makes it clear on Radical Optimism’s tracklist that she’s ready to turn the page.
According to the album’s watery back cover, the 11-track studio set will kick off with opener “End of an Era” before segueing into previously released singles “Houdini” and “Training Season.” Other as-yet-unheard songs on the LP include titles like “French Exit,” “Illusion,” “Falling Forever” and closing number “Happy For You.” And unless Lipa still has a few surprises up her sleeve ahead of the album’s unveiling, it appears that, for the first time in her career, there won’t be a single collaboration or guest artist featured on the tracklist.
She Thinks Radical Optimism Is “Exactly What We Need in the World”
Just one hour after dropping the cover art and tracklist, Lipa followed the reveal up with a video explaining the important meaning behind the album’s boldly cheery title. “I [can’t] wait for this to be yours,” she promised in the caption, adding a tidal wave emoji to punctuate her point.
“You know what the world needs is, like, the idea of being endlessly happy,” the singer says in the clip. It’s like an overpowering feeling, I want it.” Later, she hints at the emotional throughline that threads through her upcoming body of work, revealing, “Every song does have that kind of, like, ‘through the struggle you kind of make it something optimistic’...Radical optimism, that’s exactly what we need in the world.”
The Singer’s 2021 GRAMMYs Acceptance Speech Inadvertently Sparked the Album’s Ethos
As it turns out, the emotional concept behind Radical Optimism was actually born during Lipa’s acceptance speech at the 2021 GRAMMYs, where she took home the trophy for Best Pop Vocal Album for Future Nostalgia.
“My last GRAMMY speech, I said something just in the midst of panic,” the pop sensation says in the aforementioned video, which flashes to her grinning on the stage outside Staples Center in L.A, clutching her third golden gramophone. “One thing I’ve come to realize is how much happiness is so important,” she said at the time.
“I felt really jaded at the end of my last album [2017’s Dua Lipa] where I felt like I only had to make sad music to feel like it mattered," she continued. "And I’m just so grateful and so honored because happiness is something that we all deserve, and that’s something that we all need in our lives.”
Three years later, Lipa is channeling that mindset into her new music in such a bold way that she felt Radical Optimism had to be the album’s title.
She’s Assembled A Solid Group Of Collaborators
The singer’s latest Instagram post also gave fans a peek at some of Lipa’s most trusted collaborators on Radical Optimism. “Tobias Jesso Jr. Kevin Parker. Caroline Ailin. We have Daniel L Harle,” the GRAMMY winner notes, whirling the camera around to introduce each of her producers and fellow lyricists by name before gleefully exclaiming, “We’re makin’ an album!”
Gesso Jr, Parker, Ailin and Harle are all listed alongside Lipa in the credits of lead single “Houdini” as well as follow-up “Training Season,” so it’s a safe bet that fans will likely see their names throughout the credits when they hear Radical Optimism in full.
2024 GRAMMYs: Dua Lipa Debuts "Training Season" & Slays "Houdini" In Mesmerizing Opening Performance
