''Radical Optimism'' is the third studio album by English and Albanian singer

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Lipa worked as a model before v ...

. It was released on 3 May 2024 through

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. Her first full-length studio album in four years since ''

Future Nostalgia ''Future Nostalgia'' is the second studio album by English and Albanian singer Dua Lipa. It was released on 27 March 2020 by Warner Records. Lipa enlisted writers and producers including Jeff Bhasker, Ian Kirkpatrick, Stuart Price, the Mon ...

'' (2020), ''Radical Optimism'' was produced by Kevin Parker,

Danny L Harle Daniel Jack Eisner Harle (born 25 September 1989) is a British music producer and composer who records under the name Danny L Harle. He was formerly signed to the London-based PC Music label and is a member of Dux Content with A. G. Cook. He h ...

Ian Kirkpatrick Ian Andrew Kirkpatrick (born 24 May 1946) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. Described as "supremely athletic, fast, fearless and with an uncanny sense of anticipation", Kirkpatrick is widely regarded as one of the greatest flankers ...

, and

Andrew Wyatt Andrew Wyatt Blakemore (born May 15, 1971) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York, he began his career playing in New York bands such as The A.M. and Black Beetle. He gained wider ...

. The album was preceded by three singles, "

Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

", " Training Season" and "

Illusion An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may ...

", all of which peaked within the top ten of the UK Singles Chart and the top fifteen of the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Global 200 The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...

. Upon release, ''Radical Optimism'' received generally positive reviews from critics. Some reviewers praised its

neo-psychedelic Neo-psychedelia is a genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the music production approaches and songwriting of 1960s psychedelia, either exploring emulations of the sounds of the era or applying its ethos to new styles of music ...

production, while others found the album underwhelming and inferior to ''Future Nostalgia''. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted atop the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and scored the biggest opening week for a British female in three years. In the United States, it accumulated Lipa's highest first week sales and became her highest-charting album on the ''Billboard'' 200. ''Radical Optimism'' is being supported by the Radical Optimism Tour, which began in November 2024.

Background

's second studio album, ''

'', was released in March 2020 to widespread acclaim. Credited as a significant factor in the revival of

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

music in this decade, the record yielded multiple singles including "

Don't Start Now "Don't Start Now" is a song by English and Albanian singer Dua Lipa. Lipa wrote the song with Caroline Ailin, Emily Warren, and its producer Ian Kirkpatrick (record producer), Ian Kirkpatrick. The song was released for digital download and str ...

" and the RIAA diamond-certified " Levitating". It won

Best Pop Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...

and British Album of the Year at the 2021

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

and Brit Awards ceremonies, respectively. ''Future Nostalgia'' was succeeded by a

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson ('' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 200 ...

and

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Reco ...

. Lipa embarked on its namesake tour, which included 91 shows across the Americas, Europe, and Oceania, from February to November 2022. In 2023, Lipa revealed her third studio album would be released sometime in 2024 with a new sound that sees her moving away from the disco soundscape of ''Future Nostalgia''; instead embracing more of 1970s-era

psychedelia Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...

. After having deleted all of her

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posts in October 2023, she revealed she had gotten her hair coloured red via a picture of herself captioned "miss me?". In anticipation of new music, Lipa posted pictures to her social media with cryptic captions and temporarily replaced the cover art of her previous albums with kaleidoscopic versions on streaming services. In the cover story for the February 2024 issue of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Lipa described her forthcoming album as a "psychedelic-pop-infused tribute to UK rave culture". Lipa announced her third studio album, titled ''Radical Optimism'', and its release date, via an Instagram livestream on 13 March 2024. The album is her first studio effort in four years, following ''Future Nostalgia''.

Music and lyrics

''Radical Optimism'' is a

neo-psychedelia Neo-psychedelia is a genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the music production approaches and songwriting of 1960s psychedelia, either exploring emulations of the sounds of the era or applying its ethos to new styles of music ...

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

, and

Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

record. It also contains elements of

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

and

eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

. The album "taps into the pure joy and happiness" of having clarity in situations, including "hard goodbyes and vulnerable beginnings" that eventually turned out to be milestones as a result of choosing optimism and grace to navigate "through the chaos". The album is inspired by "the energy of ipa's hometownLondon, and the rawness, honesty, confidence and freedom of 90s

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

". In a press release, she expressed her desire to "capture the essence of youth and freedom and having fun" with the record. The concept of radical optimism was introduced to her by a friend a few years prior, which resonated with her and allowed it to "weave" into her life. Inspired by the term, Lipa found herself doing research on the history of "

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

, and Britpop". The concept turned out to be a "confidently optimistic" feeling to the singer that she sought to incorporate in her recording sessions.

Release and promotion

''Radical Optimism'' was released through

on 3 May 2024, and was made available for streaming, digital download, cassette, CD, and

vinyl LP The LP (from long playing or long play) is an analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specificati ...

variants. Pre-orders for the album began on 13 March 2024.

Title and artwork

Lipa unveiled the album's cover, title and tracklist on 13 March 2024. According to Lipa, the title ''Radical Optimism'' was inspired by "the idea of going through chaos gracefully and feeling like you can weather any storm". The artwork of the album was unveiled along with its announcement. Shot by Tyrone Lebon, it depicts the singer floating in an ocean and the fin of a nearby shark seemingly approaching her.

Singles

The lead single "

" was released on 9 November 2023, with its accompanying music video. The song topped the charts in Belgium, Bulgaria, and Greece; reached number two in the UK, the top-ten in various countries, and number 11 in the US. It also topped the ''Billboard''

Dance/Electronic Songs Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (formerly Dance/Electronic Songs) is a record chart has been published weekly by ''Billboard'' since January 2013. It is their first chart to be published that ranks the most popular dance and electronic songs according ...

chart for 17 weeks, becoming her second-longest-running number-one on the chart. An extended edit of the song was released on digital and streaming services on 1 December followed by remixes by Adam Port and

, one of the track's producers, on 22 December 2023 and 19 January 2024 respectively. The second single " Training Season" was debuted live at the

66th Annual Grammy Awards The 66th Annual Grammy Awards honored the best recordings, compositions, and artists from October 1, 2022, to September 15, 2023, as chosen by the members of The Recording Academy, on February 4, 2024. In its 21st year at the Crypto.com Arena ...

on 4 February 2024 before being released on 15 February. It was issued on limited

7-inch In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

vinyl, CD, and cassette formats in addition to accompanying instrumental, a capella, extended, and extended instrumental versions on digital and streaming platforms. The song's music video, directed by Vincent Hancock, was released alongside the track. The single debuted at number four in the UK, six in Ireland, 10 in New Zealand, 11 in Canada, 27 in the US, and within the top 40 in various other countries. An acoustic version of the song was released on digital and streaming services on 22 March 2024, followed by a remix by Chloé Caillet on 29 March. "

" was released as the album's third single on 11 April 2024. Accompanying instrumental, a capella, and extended versions were released the same day on digital and streaming services. The song debuted at number nine in the UK, becoming the album's third consecutive top ten entry, and within the top 40 in various other countries. The track also reached the summit of the US Dance/Electronic Songs chart, becoming the second single from the album to reach the peak there. The song's accompanying music video drew comparisons to

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

's video for her 2003 single " Slow". The fourth single, " These Walls", was released on 8 November 2024 as a collaboration with Belgian singer Pierre de Maere, along with a lyric video featuring footage of the two singers recording the new version. It reached number 60 in France and numbers 11 and 8 in the Flanders and Wallonia regions of Belgium, respectively.

Live performances

As part of promotion for the album, Lipa performed the album's singles at various venues across various media forms. Performances of "Houdini" and "Training Season" filmed in a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

warehouse were released to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on 12 January 2024 and 15 March, respectively. The performances, subtitled "London Sessions", were also released in audio form on digital and streaming services on the same day as their respective debuts. Lipa opened the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on 4 February 2024 with "Houdini" and debuted then-unreleased "Training Season", along with "

Dance the Night "Dance the Night" is a song by English and Albanian singer Dua Lipa from the soundtrack to the fantasy comedy film ''Barbie'' (2023). Lipa co-wrote the song with songwriter Caroline Ailin and its producers Andrew Wyatt and Mark Ronson; the Pic ...

", a song for the 2023 film ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

''. She performed "Training Season" again at the

Brit Awards 2024 The Brit Awards 2024 was the 44th edition of the Brit Awards ceremony presented by British Phonographic Industry (BPI), and was held on Saturday 2 March 2024 at The O2 Arena in London. The ceremony returned to a weekend due to successful viewersh ...

ceremony on 2 March. On 12 April, Lipa performed a private concert at a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

convention in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Her setlist at the event consisted of the album's first two singles alongside several other songs from her catalogue. Lipa recorded a performance for

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cott ...

series at

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

that aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

on 6 May 2024. Her performance included "Training Season", "Illusion" and "Happy for You" from ''Radical Optimism'' in addition to her 2015 single, " Be the One", and a cover of

Cleo Sol Cleopatra Zvezdana Nikolic (born 24 March 1990), better known by her stage name Cleo Sol, is an English singer-songwriter. Working closely with her husband, the producer Inflo, Dean Josiah Cover, she has released five solo studio albums beginnin ...

's 2021 track "Sunshine". On 25 April, she performed the first three singles off of the album at ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine's 2024 100 Gala. The event aired on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

network on 12 May. On 4 May, a day after the album's release, Lipa hosted ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' and performed "Illusion" and "Happy for You" during the show. The next day, she performed the same two songs again alongside "Houdini" and "Training Season" during a surprise concert in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Lipa headlined the 2024 edition of

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

in June as well as

Open'er Festival The Open'er Festival is a music festival which takes place on the north coast of Poland, in Gdynia. It is one of the biggest annual music festivals in Poland. The first edition of the festival was organized in Warsaw in 2002 as ''Open Air Festi ...

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiva ...

NOS Alive NOS Alive (formerly Optimus Alive) is an annual music and arts festival held in the Algés riverside, close to Lisbon, in Portugal. It is organized since 2007 by the Portuguese live entertainment company Everything is New. Its naming sponsor is ...

, and

Mad Cool Mad Cool is a music festival held annually in Madrid, Spain, since 2016. It chiefly features pop, rock, and indie music, as well as various DJs and electronic music performers. The 2016 and 2017 festivals took place in the Caja Mágica. The or ...

in July. She also conducted a one-off concert on 17 October at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in London. Fans who pre-ordered ''Radical Optimism'' were granted pre-sale access on 10 April, followed by the general ticket sale two days later, via

Ticketmaster Ticketmaster Entertainment, LLC is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Ente ...

Tour

On 18 March 2024, Lipa announced the Radical Optimism Tour, a concert tour in support of the album. Tickets went on general sale on 21 March via Ticketmaster; fans who pre-ordered ''Radical Optimism'' were granted pre-sale access.

Critical reception

''Radical Optimism'' received generally favourable reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 73, based on 21 reviews. Writing for ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'', El Hunt says that "''Radical Optimism'', despite having a title that sounds like an inspirational fridge magnet, boasts some real dance-pop gems which belong right at the top of her output", but adds that it's a "slightly half-hearted experiment". For the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', Ludovic Hunter-Tilney noted that "there's a lot of production layering and effects, but the songs share a similarly straightforward groove". Aimee Phillips of '' Clash'' lamented "I can't see ''Radical Optimism'' sliding in straight to number one in fans' affections, but if the slow-burn of ''

'' is anything to go by, Dua Lipa would have grounds to be, as her latest project suggests, radically optimistic about the album's future". '' DIY'' writer Lisa Wright remarked that "on her hugely-anticipated third, there's plenty of sun-drenched sonic optimism but not so much that's all that radical". ''Radical Optimism'' has also received some mixed reviews. In ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'', Claire Biddles said "In her ua'sdance-pop singles, she's proven that she can do the "pop" part, but the "star" is still lacking". Writing for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', Thomas Smith wrote that "perhaps it's unfair to hold Lipa too strongly against what might have been a throwaway comment in a profile too literally, but ''Radical Optimism'' offers little else to latch on". Jaeden Pinder of ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

'' felt the album lacks "depth and risk", describing it as a "series of vignettes" rather than a "fully fleshed-out record". Some critics have reviewed the album as inferior to ''Future Nostalgia'' and said it failed to match the high expectations set by Lipa. Common complaints found the album's production to be underwhelming and underdeveloped. For ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', Dan Cairns writes of the album that it "excels..in its sonic detailing," citing 6 tracks as "genuinely fantastic songs, befitting of a star" whilst summarising the album as "Radical? Nope. Great (in parts). Absolutely".

Year-end lists

Commercial performance

''Radical Optimism'' debuted at number one on the

with 46,300

units Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

, marking the best opening week for a British female artist since

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

's '' 30'' in November 2021. It marked her first number one debut and her second number one album overall. Following Lipa's performance at the 2024

, ''Radical Optimism'' returned to the top-ten of the

at number three, selling an additional 9,300 copies that week, while her other two studio albums ''

'' (2020) and ''

'' (2017) placed at numbers eight and ten, respectively. On 19 July 2024, the album was certified Gold by the BPI for selling 100,000

in the country. In the United States, ''Radical Optimism'' debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 (hindered by

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

's ''

The Tortured Poets Department ''The Tortured Poets Department'' is the eleventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on April 19, 2024, by Republic Records. Swift developed the album amidst the Eras Tour in 2023, with the resultant, ...

''), with 83,000 equivalent units sold on its opening week, consisting of 51,500 pure album sales. With this feat, it became Lipa's highest-charting album in the country, surpassing the number three peak of her previous LP ''

''. It was also the top-selling album in pure sales that week and marked Lipa's highest first week overall units. In its second week on the chart, ''Radical Optimism'' fell 19 places to number 21, selling an additional 23,000 copies, a 70% decline from its first week sales performance. In total, the album spent 15 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200, Lipa's shortest stay for any of her studio albums. In France, the album debuted at number one on the

SNEP SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...

Albums Chart, recording 19,501 units sold in its first week of release. ''Radical Optimism'' became Lipa's first French number-one album and has since been certified platinum in the country. Likewise, ''Radical Optimism'' debuted atop the

Austrian Albums Chart Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

and marked Lipa's first album to reach the summit in Austria. In the Netherlands, the album debuted atop the

Dutch Album Top 100 The Dutch Album Top 100 or Album Top 100 is a weekly hit list of music albums, compiled by Dutch Charts. It shows the 100 best-selling music albums of the moment in the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, i ...

, becoming Lipa's second Dutch number-one album after ''

'' topped the chart in 2021. ''Radical Optimism'' debuted at number one on the

Spanish Albums Chart Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

in Spain, becoming the singer's second album to reach the summit in the country, and was later awarded a gold certification by PROMUSICAE. Across Europe, the album also peaked at number one in Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, and Wallonia, while debuting in the top ten in others. On 16 June 2024, ''Radical Optimism'' surpassed 1 billion streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

, becoming her third album to do so, and currently has two billion streams on the platform as of May 2025.

Track listing

Note * signifies an additional producer * signifies a vocal producer * signifies writers added due to a sample of "Tokyo Nights" by

Digital Farm Animals Nick Gale, known professionally as Digital Farm Animals, is an English DJ and record producer known for wearing an electronic pig helmet. He has featured on and co-written numerous tracks that have reached the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, ...

, Shaun Frank and

Dragonette Dragonette is the stage name of Canadian singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara. Originally an electronic music band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2005, the band consisted of Sorbara with her then husband Dan Kurtz as bassist and producer (also i ...

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Radical Optimism''. Musicians *

– vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (tracks 5, 7, 11) *

Caroline Ailin Caroline Furøyen (born 1989), also known by her stage name Caroline Ailin, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter based in London. She co-wrote " New Rules", a single by Dua Lipa which reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and US pop radio in ...

– backing vocals (tracks 1–4, 6, 8–10) * Kevin Parker – bass (tracks 1–3, 5–8, 11); guitar, keyboards, percussion, sound effects (1–3, 5–7, 11); drums (2–8, 11), programming (2, 3), backing vocals (3) *

– synthesiser (tracks 1, 2, 4–11), drum

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

(1, 2, 4, 6–11), backing vocals (1, 2, 10), bass (1, 4, 6, 8, 10); keyboards, percussion (1, 4, 7); programming (3, 9); drums, guitar (4); claps (5, 6, 10), whistle (7), piano (9) * Tobias Jesso Jr. – backing vocals (track 3) *

– guitar, synthesiser (tracks 4, 10); piano (4), backing vocals (10) * Cameron Gower Poole – drum programming,

thumb piano Mbira ( ; ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and ...

(track 4);

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

(5) * Jan Brzezinski – additional piano (track 4), piano (9) *

Ali Tamposi Alexandra Leah Tamposi (born November 17, 1989) is an American songwriter from West Palm Beach, Florida. She is best known for co-writing Kelly Clarkson's song "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," 5 Seconds of Summer's song " Youngblood", DJ Snak ...

– adaptation (track 5), backing vocals (8) *

– programming (tracks 8, 9), drums (8), guitar (9) * Adam James – acoustic guitar (track 10) Technical *

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey. Gehringer is known for having mastered recordings by popular artists such as AJR, Dua Lipa, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Harry Styles, ...

– mastering * Josh Gudwin – mixing * Cameron Gower Poole –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Kevin Parker – engineering (tracks 2, 3) * Patrick Kehrier – engineering (track 8) * Danny L Harle –

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

(track 2) * Will Quinnell – mastering assistance * Daniela Sicilia – engineering assistance * Josh Kay – engineering assistance * Jan Brzezinski – engineering assistance (tracks 2–11) * Patrick Gardner – engineering assistance (track 2) Design * Elena Totaj – branding, packaging design * Eni Pirana – branding, packaging design * Tyrone Lebon – photography * BoDeBo Represents – photography production

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{{Authority control 2024 albums 2020s concept albums Dua Lipa albums Warner Records albums Albums produced by Kevin Parker Albums produced by Danny L Harle Albums produced by Andrew Wyatt Dance-pop albums Neo-psychedelia albums Electropop albums

Background

Music and lyrics

Release and promotion

Title and artwork

Singles

Live performances

Tour

Critical reception

Year-end lists

Commercial performance

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

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See also

References