Dua Lipa Returns to NPR's 'Tiny Desk' with a Stripped-down Dance Party Setup

When you’re already number one, you can take some risks. Securing your 2020 pandemic home NPR Tiny Table The concert still holds the record for the most watched concert tiny desk has more than 130 million views so far, Dua Lipa He returned to the packed public radio offices on Friday, October 25, for his second low-key show featuring songs from this year. Radical Optimism album.

I’m talking to NPR’s Ari Shapiro report Before the four-song installment was released, Dua revealed that she transformed the uptempo album track “Happy For You” into a stripped-down piano and voice ballad that represents the song in its “purest form”, stripped of effervescent electronic production. “That’s what’s happening right now, and I think you feel that song differently,” he said. “You listen to the lyrics in a different way, and it was really fun to think about it and take it back to the basics.”

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He also talked about how in “These Walls” he turned the frequently used expression “if these walls could talk” on its head by “personalizing the walls, because no one knows you more than the four walls in your room.”

The mini-concert opens with a disconnected, meditative rendition of “Training Season,” highlighted by acoustic guitar and electric piano, gently strummed bass, and angelic backing vocals, before the singer’s seven-piece band picks up the tempo and (gently) rocks the music. Office with a jazz pop atmosphere Radical Optimism Single.

“I’ve always wanted to come down and be by the table,” a smiling Dua told the assembled NPR staffers. “We made it at home tiny desk “It’s in 2020, so this feels really special,” he added, cheekily wondering if anyone had watched this little record-breaking show. He then mentioned before setting up “Happy For You” that he always talked about the way artists reimagined their songs for the series. Saying that he was inspired, he dived into the coolness of “These Walls”.

So he also changed the arrangement of the song, which describes his ex-girlfriend being happy to have a new girlfriend, replacing the sad pop dance vibe of the original with a skeletal, emotion-driven keyboard and vocal arrangement that brought new poignancy to the wishes. you-best lyrics.

“Even the hard parts were the best/I see where you are now, you picked up the pieces/And then you gave them to someone else,” she sings, over the gentle support of keyboardist Georgie Ward. The session wraps up with the album’s first single, the certified banger “Houdini” whose slinky and upbeat atmosphere probably had the NPR crew heading back to their desks with huge smiles on their faces.

Check out Dua tiny desk show below.

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