With her powerful voice and distinctive vocal control, Dua Lipa has staked a claim in the music industry’s creme de la creme through her recently released eponymous album. Soulful melodies intertwined with today’s pop scene makes for a dynamic and very much original style of music that cannot be categorized under one genre.

Lipa’s twelve song debut album encompasses a wide range of emotions, from sensitive and vulnerable to extreme unmitigated girl power. Her two most popular songs and her debut singles, ‘New Rules’ and ‘Blow Your Mind (Mwah)’ are two feminist anthems that embody exactly the latter. The quick paced composition’s lyrics are thrilling and empowering and exude confidence. ‘Thinking ‘Bout You’ is more desperate, and shows a less relaxed and more open side of Dua, as if the listener is looking into her soul.

The production of the music is definitely less unplugged and more layered, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes the music sound less authentic and more as if it is created to cater to the pop industry, when her voice clearly has more depth than displayed. She can sing with more versatility than the album wholly displays, and the most prominent song that truly displays her vocal abilities without sounding like it is trying to please the public is ‘Homesick’, a slow ballad that captures Lipa’s true range and enhances it.

Lyrically, the words fit the melodies perfectly. It is almost like if the music was played without the lyrics, people would still know what the song was about. “Don’t know what it’s worth ’til you pay the price. When you bite your tongue does it draw blood?” she insightfully asks, in ‘Garden’. Her lyrics bring the music to life, and they hit listeners right in the heart.

With this promising first album, listeners can only wait and see what a potential sophomore album will bring to the table. Dua Lipa is one to keep on the radar, and her debut album is one for the books.