Somewhere in the middle, I think I lied a little
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Best Albums of 2020 list...
#2 : Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa
The track that gives the album its name contains the brassy line: “You want what now looks like, let me give you a taste.” It’s true, but it’s also not – Future Nostalgia owes a great debt to the musical past, nostalgic itself for the costume jewelled glitz of disco and the Day-Glo of 80s powerpop and those who have gone before. It references Olivia Newton-John, turn-of-the millennium Madonna, 1930s Lew Stone (and by extension, 90s White Town), 80s INXS, Lily Allen and the Who. Deftly cajoling these disparate sounds into a lithe 43 minutes of pristine club-pop music that does sound incredibly “now” is nothing short of alchemy.
I'd heard Ms Lipa's first album and liked it (well worth checking it out if you haven't heard it - but the fact that there were 9 singles released from the album means you probably have) and had always meant to check this one out, but had, for no obvious reason, conspicuously failed to do so. So I was pleased this reminded I needed to listen to it and was expecting to enjoy doing so. And the good news is that I very much did!
It's a very mature album for one so young (she's 25!) - referencing music produced waaay back before she was born, but giving it a slightly more contemporary sound. Lots of the tracks jumped out at me but that's probably because half the album has been released as singles and have been all over the radio and playlists all year. I also liked "Boys Will Be Boys" which, for something seemingly light and frothy, has a surprising amount to say
I'm sure if there's something that I can't find the words to say
I know that there will be a man around to save the day
And that was sarcasm, in case you needed it mansplained
I should've stuck to ballet
If you're offended by this song, you're clearly doing something wrong
If you're offended by this song, then you're probably saying
Boys will be boys but girls will be women
Wikipedia has plenty to say about the album and also pointed me at Club Future Nostalgia, which is a more house-y remix of the album - worth checking out if you like that sort of thing (I enjoyed some of it). It also has a huuuge section on "end of year" lists that the album has featured on and I'd have to say I'm not in the slightest bit surprised. I think it's probably between this one and Haim as my favourite on the list (so far - still one to come!) and I can see the "future nostalgia" bit works well in appealing to multiple age groups.
"Customers also listened to" all the people you'd expect (Gaga, Ariana, Katie) and I'd have to say she very much holds her own in such exalted company. If you've listened to the radio or generic playlists this year, then you'll have heard half this album anyway and the other half is not going to surprise you - but there are far worse albums that you could have listened to this year (and I know, because I have!)
Only one more to go now though :-)
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