Dua Lipa is a half-English, half-Serbian musician who's currently based in London. She’s essentially a walking Pop Star Starter Pack; stunningly beautiful? Check. Achingly cool? Check. And with possibly the most envious footing any new female artist could wish for. She’s looked after by Lana Del Rey’s management, and very much fits the same profile - an alt femme fatale, self describing her sound as "dark pop."
Finishing her five-date UK tour at the Oslo in Hackney was apt and sensible for an artist of Dua’s new-talent stature, where a modest yet enlivened headcount filled the upstairs room. Opening the set with ‘Bad Together’, a track taken from her upcoming debut, Dua is instant gratification - african-style pounding drums and soaring, honeyed vocals complimented her exotic, intense presence, her name in sharp neon lights behind.
‘Be The One’ was a sugary stellar pop high, written by Lucy ‘Pawws’ Taylor, and is the only track from the album not written by Dua. ‘New Love’, another absolute blinding pop song, was equally illustrious and shed light on a recurring theme - damaged yet artistic melancholic rebellion, much like Amy Winehouse or Lana, and a welcomed relief to all of the over styled, plastic tackiness of mainstream pop.
Dua has done some interestingly varied covers, and her rendition of Jamie xx’s ‘Good Times’ was pretty special along with a cover of The Weekend’s ‘The Hills’ which showed an even grittier side.
We all have our guilty pop pleasures, but Dua Lipa is nothing to be ashamed of - pop music done right, and one to keep a very close eye on.
