In September, Hilary Duff announced that she’d changed record labels and was in the process of recording her sixth studio album. Hilary’s last album, Breathe In, Breathe Out dropped in June 2015, and her last single, “Never Let You Go,” came out in 2020. So, it’s been a hot minute since she’s released new music. Hilary also announced that she was filming a docuseries that would focus on her musical comeback and how she’d balance her personal and professional life.
Hilary’s new album, Luck…or something will be out on February 20. Its first two singles, “Mature” and “Roommates” are both out now, and definitely showcase a more grown-up Hilary. To promote the album, Hilary’s doing a mini-tour with stops in London, Toronto, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles. She’ll finish with two different weekend-long residencies in Las Vegas, in February and May. On Monday, Hilary was in London for the first stop on the “Small Rooms, Big Nerves” tour. It was her first show in ten years, and it’s getting great reviews. The Guardian even calls it “euphoric, escapist fun.”
It’s fair to say that US actor-singer-writer-entrepreneur Hilary Duff has never been a force to be reckoned with in pop music. Her songs and albums have neither been particularly critically acclaimed nor commercially dominant; many people would know her only as Lizzie McGuire, hero of the Disney Channel sitcom from the early 00s. But for the 38-year-old Duff’s first live performance in 18 years, she’s met with a sold-out crowd screaming back every word of her music like they are all universally adored hits. Duff seems overwhelmed by the rapturous reception. Fans have come from Brazil, Saudi Arabia and all over Europe, and they are often so loud you can’t hear the woman on stage.
But after the shock wears off, Duff shows no signs of rust and her fierce sincerity combined with girl next door charm infuses the night with euphoria and escapism. When she jumps up and down on the stage’s sofa singing Why Not, you get the sense that this is how everyone in the crowd once sang the song in their adolescence. She’s also not afraid to poke fun at herself and her past: she brings three fans on stage to recreate the low-energy dance choreography of her 2007 single With Love that went viral on TikTok in 2021.
The 17-song set expertly sprinkles five new numbers from forthcoming album Luck … Or Something in between fan favourites such as 2015’s criminally underrated Sparks and 2003’s So Yesterday to keep the mood elevated. Time has made Duff’s voice more textured and refined, adding new depth to songs like Fly and Come Clean, though the twee Someone’s Watching Over Me, a ballad about self-acceptance, is cloying.
The biggest noise of the night comes with the one-two encore of her new single Mature and the Lizzie McGuire classic What Dreams Are Made Of. A wild singalong ensues complete with pink butterfly confetti as a giddy Duff jumps for joy on stage. It’s an emotional conclusion that takes this devoted crowd to new levels of noisy rapture and proves that Duff could easily put music at the centre of her portfolio career.
I watched some of the clips that have been circulating, and Hilary does sound great. You know what they say – once a performer, always a performer. It looked like she was having a blast, too. I love that she got all meta and poked fun at the “With Love” dance/viral TikTok trend. You gotta lean into those things, especially the viral vids that introduce your music to a whole new generation. Most people attend a concert to have a good time while singing along to their favorite songs, and it sounds like Hilary checked both of those boxes off.
As for the docuseries, there’s no official release date yet, which makes sense since they’re presumably still filming while she’s on tour and up through her album’s release date. I predict it’ll be out sometime over the summer or early fall.
Photos credit: PapCulture/Backgrid
The With Love clips have been great fun! I’m 39 and Come Clean is a forever favorite. I can’t remember which album it was, but the one right after Come Clean was a cd I wore out. Great singer? No. Great dancer? Not really. Was any of that necessary in 2004? Nope! I’m excited for her.