Dua Lipa - Houdini

Despite receiving nearly 700 million Spotify streams and reaching the top five in almost all of the major music markets (the exception being a number 11 peak on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart), Dua Lipa’s fiery lead single “Houdini” from her third album “Radical Optimism” was considered a disappointment. Maybe it’s the continued dominance of the US music market or the idea that nothing she put out was going to top the massive success of “Future Nostalgia”, but it’s pretty shocking how muted the response to this single was from the general public and the music journalism industry at large.

Dua Lipa is a bona fide superstar with a massive social media following and her hands in other businesses such as a popular podcast, newsletter, and a growing book club. All of these entities fuel the brand that is Dua Lipa. It’s obvious that music is the main priority but that she’s trying to diversify her interests and influence in order to prepare for a future where her fame and financial success is not tied to the chart performance of her future singles and albums.

Which brings us to “Houdini”, one of my favorite songs of 2024. The genre is dance-pop and while it’s catchy like Dua’s most famous songs “Don’t Start Now”, “Levitating”, “Physical”, and “New Rules”, I enjoyed the distinct 80s synth-pop vibe it gave off. Written and produced with Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, it’s clear that Dua was going for a darker vibe after the bright and cheery singles from “Future Nostalgia”. It’s ironic because “Future Nostalgia” would have better reflected society’s mood in a post-pandemic world rather than being released during it. And “Houdini” and the “Radical Optimism” album as a whole would have better fit the somber mood of the pandemic! Timing is everything and an argument can be made that the extended slow burn of the huge “Future Nostalgia” singles made Dua a bit too saturated by the time this lead single and subsequent album came out.

To conclude, “Houdini” is an awesome dance-pop song with a clear point of view and edgy production. It’s a song I will go back to many times in the future whenever I need a pick-me-up. You can’t help but get up and dance when you hear this explosive song. Why it underperformed in America can be chalked to a few things. Dua Lipa, while a major global superstar, does not like to share many personal details about her life with her fans. As a result, her music serves as a cipher for what the listeners project onto her as an artist and the music she puts out. Creating this type of distance with her fans is a smart move for her mental health as it allows her to retain an amount of privacy not shared by her pop contemporaries. America seems to prefer their female pop stars bare their hearts out and create metanarratives around their music. But Dua should not worry about her longevity just yet. At only 29, she can still make a major comeback in the years to come. Just don’t wait another four years for the next project to come!