Dua Lipa
Hugo Comte*You need some real chutzpah to name your sophomore album Future Nostalgia. Dua Lipa can talk it, walk it, sing it, dance it.
The British pop artist is creating future nostalgia with a swag of hits including “Levitating”, “Physical,” her “Cold Heart” collaboration with Elton John, and others.
Despite the pandemic keeping most of us locked up and distanced from our buddies, Lipa has had it all her own way in pop music. In recent years, she’s bagged three Grammy Awards, winning for Best female Solo Artist, and Album of the Year at the Brit Awards, and “Levitating” triumphed as the No. 1 hit on Billboard‘s 2021 year-end Hot 100 Songs chart.
With her delayed Future Nostalgia Tour rebooted and ready to hit the road, Lipa will get to exercise those hits to patient fans around the globe.
On Thursday night (Feb. 3), Lipa stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to discuss her live show, wearing next-to-nothing when Elton called to do business, and more.
The forthcoming world tour is “massively different” to the trek that was planned for 2020, she tells Colbert. For starters, the album dropped in March 2020, around the time when the WHO declared the pandemic. Lockdown, it turned out, was a good time for millions to do little else but stream Future Nostalgia. “This time I’ve done a lot of audience research and I feel like I know what songs people like…it’s the very best of,” she says of her live show.
“Cold Heart” returned Elton John to the top of the charts in the U.K. and Australia after a long absence. The song, remixed by Aussie electronic production trio Pnau, had an awkward origin.
Lipa was hanging in Los Angeles, writing songs for a new album when Elton called, pitching the song. On Facetime. “I was in a bikini and a cowboy hat,” she recounts. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was perfect.”
During the chat, Lipa flipped the script and played host for a moment, engaging with Colbert in a deep-and-meaningful about how his faith overlaps with comedy.
Watch below.
On AHHCade, PNAU are leaning fully into emotion for their upcoming seventh studio album.
“There’s something deeply connected about music and the path we’ve been on,” PNAU’s Nick Littlemore shares while introducing the new project, which is scheduled to arrive July 31 through Sydney independent label etcetc, under the TMRW Music umbrella.
“We’re creating songs from the heart,” he says. “Even though these tracks are built with electronics and technology, at their core they are emotional expressions. Peter, myself and everyone we worked with wanted to create a feeling of home, whether that’s on the dancefloor or inside the listener’s mind.”
The upcoming record includes the recently unveiled “Tu Corazon (Your Heart)” featuring Mexican rock band The Warning, as well as the energetic new track “Nirvana” with EARTHGANG and sadMONTH, which officially dropped today, May 8.
“Nirvana” pairs PNAU with Atlanta duo EARTHGANG and also marks the first collaboration with sadMONTH, the new creative venture from Littlemore alongside Toronto artist Dom Dias.
Littlemore describes the song as “the beginning of an entirely new chapter. It’s intense, chaotic and taps into a future version of punk electronic music. Expect something restless, rhythmic and completely untamed.”
EARTHGANG added: “With ‘Nirvana,’ we locked into this euphoric and elevated energy together with PNAU and rode that electro wave. Huge love to everyone involved in bringing this track to life and making it hit the way it does.”
Representatives for the group have also hinted that additional unexpected collaborations will be revealed in the near future.
PNAU, made up of longtime friends Littlemore and Peter Mayes, are following up their 2024 release Sambanova. Over the years, the duo have built a career filled with major records and industry recognition. Their global breakthrough came after teaming up with Elton John for the 2012 remix album Good Morning to the Night, which reached No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart. They later reunited with Elton for the 2021 remix Cold Heart featuring Dua Lipa, creating one of the biggest worldwide hits of the decade.
To celebrate the release of the new album, PNAU will launch the Australian run of their Nirvana Tour 2026 next month. The East Coast regional dates begin June 19 at Gilligan's in Cairns before finishing July 4 at Woodport Hotel in Erina.
Stream “Nirvana” below.
