Dua Lipa's second album, Future Nostalgia, is her most reflective project yet.
In a candid interview with British GQ, the famed pop star opened up about her highly successful sophomore project — it peaked at No. 4 on the US charts and its lead single “Don’t Start Now” is Dua's most successful track yet — explaining what went into creating the album and how she locked-in on the title.
“I messaged my A&R, ‘I think I have my album title,’” she recalled, noting that the title is a reference to pushing her sound forward, while also paying tribute to the 2000s electropop and R&B she grew up on. “He’s like, ‘Once you tell me this, and if your heart is set on it, we can’t tell anyone. It’s like a baby name.”
Dua added that once she had the album name it gave it purpose. “I want it to be the album that young girls look back on the way I look back on Missundaztood by Pink or The Dutchess by Fergie,” she shared. “I want it to be a soundtrack for young girls when they get older. I want it to age well.”
And when it comes to the sound of the project, which GQ noted "mixes Janet Jackson, Moloko and more," Dua described it as "as a dancercise class. It keeps you moving.” Adding, “[There's] some mid-tempo bits that give me a bit of a breather when I’m on tour... but I’ve been a little bit relentless with this one.”
Dua also opened up about how Future Nostalgia, which dropped in March, compares to her 2017 self-titled debut studio album, saying Future Nostalgia “is a better representation of me than my first record."
“I thought my first record was so me...," she continued. “This time I feel like I’m really finding my feet.”
“I needed to create an album that I was really proud of, without the opinion of other people,” Dua admitted, noting that she took a break from the Internet in order to forge her own path and have complete focus on her album.“If I stayed online and tried to follow the guidelines of stan culture, I’d probably be trying to remake ‘New Rules’ over and over again.”
“I feel like I’ve grown so much as a person. Future Nostalgia has opened a door for me mentally that’s helped me understand what I want," she shared.
Photo: Getty Images