Dua Lipa on YouTube.
Dua Lipa, by nature of being a pop musician who isn’t Taylor Swift, almost compelled me to bump the clunky “Illusion” up to 2.5 stars, even 3 stars. Dua’s new album also starts off pretty well. Until “Illusion.” And by the time I started writing this review, the Drake and Kendrick beef got heated and I remembered what interesting music news and interesting music was. It’s a tough time for pop stars. Whether you reveal too much or not enough, you’re at the mercy of soundtracking a smelly Erewhon full of adults who already spent their parents’ 2024 concert money on Swift. I miss the era when pop stars focused on their craft as musical performers instead of being celebrity podcasters who happened to sing. The most timeless pop music needs to be compelling and vague, and Dua forgot to be compelling.
-Brady Gerber
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