Stephen Thompson | October 25, 2024
When Dua Lipa came to visit the Tiny Desk, she had nothing to prove — and much to live up to. After all, the singer’s Tiny Desk (home) concert, recorded in London in the aftermath of her 2020 blockbuster Future Nostalgia, still holds the record for the mostviewed Tiny Desk concert in history, her 130 million views surpassing even the likes of Mac Miller and Anderson .Paak.

Four years later, the pop superstar finally graced the actual Tiny Desk, this time armed with four warm and inviting songs from Radical Optimism. Arriving in the first half of this year — when the dominant storylines in music so often revolved around grievances and rivalries — Radical Optimism stood out for its comparatively sunny and forgiving takes on failed and failing relationships, seduction, new love and old wounds. And, of course, it dispensed a worldbeating banger in “Houdini,” which joins past Dua Lipa classics (“New Rules,” “Levitating,” “Don’t Start Now”) on her own personal Mount Rushmore.

Befitting an artist whose newest songs often reflect the pursuit of personal growth — see: “Happy for You” — Lipa and her team breezed through the NPR Music offices with a mix of lowdrama professionalism and unmistakable warmth. We’ve dealt with a lot of stars (and their teams) over the years, and as often as people ask us to dish about people who’ve been difficult, we’ve mostly accumulated stories of people who’ve been lovely to have around. Even among all those, Lipa and her people stood out: They were kind, gracious, fun and game.

That shows up on camera, too, as you’ll see here. This is joyful music, at a time when we could all use it.

SET LIST
“Training Season”
“These Walls”
“Happy for You”
“Houdini”

MUSICIANS
Dua Lipa: vocals
Matthew Carroll: bass
Adam "Smiley" Wade: drums
Alex Lanyon: guitar
Georgie Ward: keys
Ciara O’Connor: vocals
Naomi Scarlett: vocals
Sophie Galpin: glockenspiel, vocals

TINY DESK TEAM
Producers: Bobby Carter, Stephen Thompson
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Alanté Serene
Audio Engineer: Tiffany Vera Castro
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Grace Widyatmadja
Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

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