Hilary Duff is a true pop culture icon. Rising to prominence in the early 00s thanks to her hit TV show Lizzie McGuire, Duff launched her singing career in 2002 with the Christmas album ‘Santa Claus Lane’ via Buena Vista. Her debut album proper ‘Metamorphosis’ was released in 2003 and that catapulted her to the top of the charts in the US and spawned the hit singles ‘So Yesterday’ and ‘Come Clean’. Her self-titled follow-up album arrived a year later and then the gaps between albums started to get longer. 2007 saw the release of ‘Dignity’, which featured the hit ‘With Love’, and then it wasn’t until 2015 that Duff released another album – ‘Breathe In. Breathe Out.”.
Almost 11 years later, Duff finally has a new album – ‘luck… or something’ but can she keep up with the current crop of chart stars? ‘luck… or something’ is produced by Duff’s husband, musician Matthew Koma, and Brian Phillips, and she wrote the majority of the album with the duo. The first taster from the album was ‘Mature’, which heralded a change in tone for Duff. Now 38-years-old, Duff is swapping out the sugary sweet sentiments of much of her music to date, and digging deeper. She’s called this album her most introspective, and she’s telling the truth. Just one listen to ‘Mature’ shows that Duff is ready to embrace her age and life experience, taking cues from the plain-speaking chart-topper Sabrina Carpenter. The breezy pop production is the perfect bed for a catchy hook and some ‘did she really just say that lyrics’.
The album’s second single ‘Roommates’ continued to raise eyebrows with lyrics such as ‘back of a diva bar, giving you head, then sneak home late, wake up your roommates’. Lizzie McGuire this certainly is not. Musically it’s in the vein of Taylor Swift’s poppier offerings with Duff’s voice sitting sweetly in the not-so-sweet lyrics. Both ‘Mature’ and ‘Roommates’ are some of the best material Duff has released, but can she sustain that standard for a whole album? Pleasingly, the answer is a resounding yes.
Let’s get something out of the way before I dig further into the album review. Duff can sing but she’s not really a singer. What I mean by that, is that she has a perfectly pleasant voice to listen to but when you look at her voice technically, there’s not a lot of range there or vibrato. Duff has never been a powerhouse singer, but this album finally finds her understanding how best to use the voice she has. I mentioned Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift earlier, and Duff has clearly taken inspiration from both. She’s feeling bolder than she has before and actually, it’s the lyrical content of the songs that are going to make people take notice.
Album opener ‘Weather For Tennis’ is a nice introduction to the record, and features one of Duff’s more passionate vocals on the record. Lyrically the song is Duff standing up for herself after acknowledging she’s ‘a seasoned apologist’. The song has a punchy beat and I could see this being a single in the future. “We Don’t Talk”, a song that is alleged to be about Duff’s relationship with her sister Haylie, packs an emotional punch as Duff clutches to understand why a once close relationship has disintegrated. ‘Future Tripping’ is a descent into paranoia exploring the tendency to spiral about things that haven’t even happened yet. The boppy production lifts the song and it’s a catchy tune.
‘Growing Up’ is a song that Duff’s long-time fans will be able to relate to. She sings about the changing nature of life, with friendships coming and going but always have that one friend you can circle back to. Part of growing up is realising that things will never pan out as you expect them to when you’re younger, and this song captures that beautifully. On ‘The Optimist’, Duff works through some personal demons involving her father and it’s one of the most honest tracks on the record. Production-wise, it’s one of the most stripped-back too.
‘You, From The Honeymoon’ is a mid-tempo meditation of wanting to be with a previous version of a person you’ve been in a relationship with, the standout ‘Holiday Party’ tackles jealousy in a relationship where there’s a lack of trust and a tendency to overthink, and “Tell Me That Won’t Happen” finds Duff pleading with a partner to prove they still have firsts to experience, worried that there are no new experiences to look forward to. The album’s final track ‘Adult Size Medium’ continues the theme of reflection that’s prevalent on the record, as Duff recalls being in her early 20s and realising that version of herself is still there, albeit buried.
‘luck… or something’ is a surprisingly big swing from Duff. She’s clearly taken her time to think about what a record from her should sound like in 2026, and it’s easily her best work to date. The introspective lyrics give fans something they’ve never had before, and Duff sounds comfortable with her vocal limitations. This style of dreamy pop suits her to the ground, and ‘luck… or something’ could well be the resurgence for Duff as a singer that nobody expected.
Track list: 1. Weather for Tennis 2. Roommates 3. We Don’t Talk 4. Future Tripping 5. Growing Up 6. The Optimist 7. You, From the Honeymoon 8. Holiday Party 9. Mature 10. Tell Me That Won’t Happen 11. Adult Size Medium Record label: Atlantic Records Release date: 20th February 2026 Buy ‘luck… or something’ now
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