is floating in the ocean, the sun just beginning to set behind her. She looks strong, serene 鈥� save for the looming threat of a massive shark, fin just breaching the surface a few feet away.

The image is the cover of her third album, 鈥淩adical Optimism,鈥� out Friday. It is an apt visual representation for an album about finding and protecting your peace in dangerous waters 鈥� a thematic maturation for the pop superstar, who has long identified her sound as 鈥渄ance-crying.鈥�

That cheeky term encapsulates the clubby jubilance of her biggest pop hits, but 鈥淩adical Optimism,鈥� with its psychedelic electro-pop, complicates it.

鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely something more cathartic that comes with the third album,鈥� she told The Associated Press recently.

鈥溾�橣uture Nostalgia鈥� was my chance for me to be able to do a very polished pop-dance-disco record,鈥� she says 鈥淩adical Optimism,鈥� alternatively, was informed by what she鈥檚 learned from touring the world over the last few years 鈥� drawing influence from trip hop and Britpop and including newfound interest in live instrumentation.

鈥淚t was so much more free flowing,鈥� she says of her latest album鈥檚 creative process. 鈥淎nd it didn鈥檛 have a formula, per se, but I always had that pop sensibility in the back of my mind. But I wanted to just experiment and try and create something new. But I think this was always kind of the album that I鈥檝e always wanted to make.鈥�

In more ways than one: Around her first album, Lipa wrote down that she鈥檇 like to work with 鈥� specifically on her third album. The manifestation worked, and he became a crucial collaborator on 鈥淩adical Optimism.鈥�

鈥淚t was almost like something deep down, instinctively, was telling me that it was something earned,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat over time I would be able to go in and work with a creative that I was so inspired by, and to be in a room and learn from him.鈥�

As for the album鈥檚 title: 鈥淚t鈥檚 euphoric, it鈥檚 togetherness,鈥� she says.

鈥淒ance music has such a long history of creating such a safe space. And I just want to embody that,鈥� she adds.

She鈥檚 been working hard to get there. Lipa, now 28, began her career at age 15, when she convinced her family to let her move from Kosovo to London, where she was born, to pursue a pop career. She went to school, modeled, and in 2017 released her eponymous debut album with the blockbuster dance-pop hits 鈥淣ew Rules鈥� and 鈥淥ne Kiss.鈥� Then came the nu-disco electropop of 2020鈥檚 鈥淔uture Nostalgia,鈥� which solidified her status as one of pop music鈥檚 biggest players. Not bad for a unique voice in the streaming era, where capturing the attention of the masses 鈥� and sustaining it 鈥� has never been more of a challenge.

In 2024, her pop songs contain a kind of learned elasticity. The melodies stack atop unusual synth sounds, the vocal range stretches (particularly on the cut 鈥淔alling Forever鈥�), the dance breaks inspired by U.K. rave culture and format-benders Primal Scream and Massive Attack 鈥� they鈥檙e all elements Lipa says she wouldn鈥檛 have dared attempt on her last album. That came from working with Parker, producer Danny L Harle, songwriter (known for his work with and ), and Lipa鈥檚 longtime collaborator Caroline Ailin.

鈥淪he understands how to handle a lot of opinions in the room, including her own,鈥� Jesso tells the AP. 鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 value hers above anyone else鈥檚, she simply uses the ones which work best for what she is trying to achieve.鈥�

鈥淲e were a band,鈥� Lipa says of the group. The first day they wrote 鈥淚llusion.鈥� The second day, 鈥淗appy for You.鈥� (鈥淚鈥檇 never written a song like that before,鈥� she points out. 鈥淎nd I loved that version of myself.鈥�) The third day, the post-disco pop of 鈥淲hatcha Doing.鈥� In bright, airy studios in London and Malibu, they finessed what would become Lipa鈥檚 most ambitious 鈥� and euphoric-sounding 鈥� record to date.

That experimentation appears across Lipa鈥檚 endeavors, too. She鈥檚 acting more 鈥� 鈥渓ittle baby roles!鈥� she says with a smile 鈥� after playing Mermaid Barbie in (she also contributed the ubiquitous, Grammy-nominated ) and LaGrange, a sultry spy in 鈥淎rgylle鈥� (a brief performance AP film critic Jake Coyle described as ).

In 2022, she founded a newsletter called Service95, what she views as an extension of a childhood blog, to 鈥渢ell stories from all around the world, not solely from a Western lens,鈥� she says. It has grown into a website, podcast and book club: 鈥淚t鈥檚 just another hobby of mine that I鈥檝e somehow managed to turn into a job, which is just great,鈥� she says, smiling.

鈥淢y day job, which is my music career, which I love, comes with constantly being online. And I think for me, at least now I鈥檓 searching for other things, and not doomscrolling on Twitter,鈥� she says of her media enterprise. 鈥淎t least this way I鈥檓 like learning something new about the world. I love having that kind of duality in my life.鈥�

It鈥檚 a duality fueled by curiosity, like when Lipa made headlines late last year for challenging in an interview on her podcast over reports of children in the Democratic Republic of Congo mining cobalt for iPhones.

鈥淭hat was scary, and really exciting,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou never really know what to expect when you go in to interview someone.鈥�

A few days after visiting the AP鈥檚 New York headquarters, Lipa appears at a public high school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to speak to students in a conversation moderated by .

鈥淥ne of the things I admire about her is how incredibly intelligent she is,鈥� Barrymore says in her introduction, commending Lipa for not only being an 鈥渋con,鈥� but someone who is 鈥済lobally aware.鈥�

In conversation, Lipa is generous and warm, particularly to a freshman drama student named Dolce, who is also Albanian, and expresses a desire to make it in the entertainment industry. Lipa tells her that identity, intentionally or not, is woven into her music.

At the end of the event, Lipa says she feels 鈥渙ptimistic about life overall, everything that comes with it,鈥� and takes a moment to look out at the audience. 鈥淚鈥檓 the most optimistic about the next generation.鈥�

And then, almost as swiftly as she arrived, Lipa leaves. A lingering positivity permeates the air. It recalls something she told the AP earlier in the week: that she strives to be 鈥渧iolently happy鈥� in life and in her endeavors.

鈥淵ou sometimes have to push yourself into that feeling,鈥� she says. Remaining grateful is 鈥渄efinitely a muscle that needs to be exercised.鈥�

On 鈥淩adical Optimism,鈥� she鈥檚 written the workout soundtrack.

READ ALSO: