Following up Future Nostalgia will be no easy feat, but according to Dua Lipa, the songs on her next album are nothing like she’s ever written before.
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Chatting about her writing process during her recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Dua divulged that while working on her third album, she wrote nearly 100 songs. All of which can be found in a notebook she bought at CVS.
“It’s got every single song I wrote for this album,” she said of the book, which she started writing in 2021. ”I wrote 97 songs.” Are any of them terrible? “Lots,” she admitted, “about 80 of them.” But obviously “Houdini” and “Training Season” aren’t among them.
Expressing her growth in confidence since the sky-rocketing success of her sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, Lipa said, “The second I write a song, I know its good or not or whether its close to being good and then I would re-work it.”
“Every song on this album, unlike any of the other records I’ve made, I’ve gone in and I’ve re-written it over and over again, until I felt like it was perfect, which I didn’t really have the confidence to do on my previous records. Like whatever I wrote on the day, was pretty much what everyone heard.”
“This time around I’m much more confident in myself as a songwriter and as a performer and how I want things to be and sound and look," Dua went on to add. “So I just went in, digged a little deeper, and I changed things to the point that it felt perfect to me. And I feel proud of it.”
If you were hoping Dua would discuss the album’s title, its tracklist, or release date, sorry to disappoint. Lipa plans to “keep it a secret for a little bit longer.”
She did however delve into the meaning behind her next single, due out February 15, “Training Season,” which we got a sneak peek with her performance at the 2024 GRAMMYs. Dua told Kimmel it’s about “not wanting to train people up,” when it comes to dating.
“I think with every dating experience, whether it’s good or bad, each person leaves the situation having learned something,” she explained. “And they’ll be better for the next person.”
Examining some of the song’s lyrics, Jimmy read “Are you someone I can give my heart to? Or just the poison that I’m drawn to?” Which had Dua respond, “it can be hard to tell the difference late at night.”
Also discussing the chorus, which goes “Need someone to hold me close / Deeper than I've ever known / Whose love feels like a rodeo…” The last bit of which had Jimmy asking Dua, “have you ever been to a rodeo? It smells.” Leading her to explain she meant it to be metaphorical, “more like, I’m ready for the ride of my life.”
Watch the entire interview above.