Listen: Dua Lipa's "Levitating"

I can't possibly remember the last time pop music was this cool, sleek, and flawless. From the stone-cold jam that's Don't Start Now to the glistening opener Future Nostalgia ("I know you ain't used to a female alpha") to the metallic sheen of Pretty Please to the euphoric power-pop of Physical, Dua Lipa's sophomore effort is a hit parade packed with bullet-proof bangers. It's like listening to a non-stop party, slithering along rave-like grooves (Love Again, Hallucinating, Break My Heart), one that approaches 80's electro-pop with remarkable freshness that's equal parts compulsively enjoyable and sonically breezy, even as the album only keeps getting better and better as it reaches its empowering closer of a ballad Boys Will Be Boys. In a full-length crammed with immediate earworms, it's hard to pick one. But if I were to, that would be Levitating — a punchy disco-funk stomper riding on a stuttery bassline and syncopated handclaps that escalates into an airy dance floor-ready track. It's pop music engineered to perfection that begs to be played on a loop.

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