And I am really grateful that the music is out.”Įarrings, Jacob & Co. “This is me going into my celestial beliefs, but it was like, Okay, this is just how it’s meant to be. “But I think just kind of solidified my choice that I wanted it to be out April 3 anyway,” Lipa says. Before that moment, she too had been weighing a delay. And then a bot alerted her label, Warner Records, that the album had leaked a week early. Everything was supposed to culminate with a well-timed media blitz-including a Saturday Night Live appearance on March 28 and the release of this cover story about, well, now. The buildup to a planned April 3 release had started in earnest last fall with the album’s first single, “Don’t Start Now,” essentially a sequel to “New Rules,” about moving on and heading directly to the club. Promoting a big pop album in isolation, remotely-let alone a high-pressure, highly anticipated sophomore album-is new territory for any artist, and a path few would choose (Lady Gaga, Haim, Alicia Keys, and many others have postponed their spring and summer releases due to the coronavirus), but ultimately, it wasn’t up to her. By now, almost anyone who pays even the slightest attention to pop culture is familiar with Dua Lipa’s career trajectory, from her days of posting covers to YouTube and SoundCloud to a serendipitous referral to Lana Del Rey’s manager Ben Mawson to a 2017 self-titled debut album featuring the catchy breakup tune “New Rules.” Next came the internet nickname “Dula Peep,” courtesy of Wendy Williams, followed by two Grammys in 2019 (Best New Artist and Best Dance Recording).
It wasn’t supposed to be this way, of course. “It’s nice to see the earth almost replenishing a little bit. Spotting the pink supermoon a few nights ago helped, too. But the sunshine streaming in from the skylights feels good.
It’s hard to stay positive when there’s so much suffering, she adds.
“London tends to be one of those places where it’s always gloomy and rainy-and that’s not to say that the weather won’t change in a couple of days, but now the trees are fully blossoming, the sky’s completely blue,” she says.