Page 93 - Media Coverage Book - 75th Aldeburgh Festival 2024
P. 93
Pop
Dua Lipa
New album
Though Dua Lipa has ascended to the heights of the starriest of stars, her music has
never quite tipped over the edge of catchy-but-ultimately-unmemorable pop primed
for Heart FM. Her new album, the first since the pandemic disco hit Future Nostalgia,
is due sometime next year, and if its lead single, “Houdini”, can be relied upon as a
prediction, it looks like it’s going to be more of the same: slick, danceable songs with
disappointingly little substance. Still, Lipa is still the British music industry’s golden
girl, so we can expect a whole lot of hype regardless. EBo
Date TBC
Pop
Ed Sheeran and J Balvin
New album
The popularity of Latin music in the UK and US has been brewing for years – whether
it’s Daddy Yankee’s 2004 hit “Gasolina” or Luis Fonzi’s soundtrack to 2016 “Despacito”,
you’ve probably sung along to at least one reggaeton banger in your time, even if you
didn’t realise it. But recently, with the success of Latin pop acts like Bad Bunny and J
Balvin, reggaeton has become a global sensation that rivals English language pop in its
popularity. What to make of that latter artist teaming up with English good-boy Ed
Sheeran? Well, when Balvin announced it in July, responses on social media were
mixed. What language will it be in? Will there be visuals? What, one Twitter user
reasonably asked, is Joe Biden doing to stop it? All we know is that this meeting of
sometimes brilliant, sometimes cringe pop minds is sure to generate at least one song
that, come the summer, will be blasting from the open windows of every car in your
neighbourhood. EBo
Date TBC
