Many artists have written songs about being jealous of their partner’s ex-lovers, but on Dua Lipa‘s new album, Radical Optimism, she’s thanking the woman her boyfriend dated before her.
Speaking to Zach Sang for the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, Dua explains that the song “Maria” is about expressing gratitude for whoever had your significant other before you did.
“I think this way: When you go through a breakup, that person’s gonna go and be so much better for someone else now,” she explains. “Because I feel like, whatever happened here, they’ve learnt, and they’re gonna put it into action in the next relationship.”
“I think everyone has done that for someone, or someone has done that for them,” she continues. “With every relationship, you grow and you become, hopefully, a better version of yourself from the experiences that you’ve had.”
She concludes, “So ‘Maria’ is really about being grateful to the ex, and being like, ‘Thank you for doing that,’ because we all grow. We all learn. And now I have this person who’s just, like, meant for me in that way.”
Dua also agrees with Sang that the theme of the album is about “losing one person but then finding the person who’s right.” She doesn’t indicate who “Mr. Right” is, though lately, she’s been seen getting cozy with actor Callum Turner.
In the same interview, Dua describes Radical Optimism, which comes out May 3, as “psychedelic,” “very vulnerable and honest,” “organic,” “dancy and personal” and “experimental.”
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