REVIEW: HILARY DUFF'S 'LUCK ... OR SOMETHING'

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More than a decade after her last studio album, pop-culture icon Hilary Duff returns with luck ... or something, a record that feels less like a comeback and more like a reckoning.

Co-written by Duff and produced by her husband, GRAMMY® Award-winning songwriter and producer Matthew Koma, and Brian Phillips, luck … or something doesn’t attempt to trade on early 2000’s sentimentality. Instead, it reframes Duff not as a former teen idol revisiting past glories, but as a woman stepping confidently into a new creative chapter. Eleven years between albums might seem like a hiatus on paper, yet that distance feels needed. In the time away, she built a life - marriage, growing her family, adulthood - and those lived experiences shape every corner of this record.

Rather than resurrecting her teenage persona, Duff writes from a place of hindsight. The album is steeped in grown-up realities: anxiety, shifting identities, complicated relationships, and the strange clarity that only comes with time. There’s perspective here - not an attempt to relive the past, but to understand how it shapes your present. 

What makes luck … or something one of her most compelling releases is its emotional directness. Duff balances unfiltered vulnerability with sharp, occasionally spicy, songwriting, crafting songs that feel intimate without becoming indulgent. She examines romantic insecurity with poetic restraints and avoids dramatics in favour of nuance. Instead of dissecting the flashbulb amounts of fame, she lingers on the quiet in-between moments of life: love losing its spark (Roommates, You, From The Honeymoon), familial distance (We Don’t Talk, The Optimist), spiralling overthinking (Future Tripping, Holiday Party, Tell Me That Won't Happen) and most poignantly, the grief of outgrowing a former version of yourself without knowing if that version was ever authentic (Adult Size Medium).

Sonically, Duff pivots just as deliberately. The sugary pop sheen of her early catalogue and the dance-floor pulse of Breathe In. Breathe Out are set aside. In its place are sleek contemporary synth-pop that feels both modern and self-assured. There are echoes of Taylor Swift’s Midnights and 1989, most notable in Roommates, which trades the glitter of pop for emotional clarity, anchored by an intimate and vulnerable vocal performance. The opening track and latest single, Weather For Tennis, along with Tell Me That Won’t Happen, wouldn’t feel out of place on a record from The 1975 - shimmering synth textures paired with jangly guitars and diaristic lyricism. At times, the phrasing even recalls Matty Healy’s confessional style. Growing Up cleverly samples blink-182’s Dammit, reshaping its melodies and lightly reworking the lyrics into something more reflective. The interpolation feels understated but deeply intentional - a nostalgic wink to Duff’s adolescence, while reframing the anthem as a tender tribute to friendships that ensure long after youth fades.

We Don’t Talk features a melody that is reminiscent of Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know, as well as a callback to Duff’s own song, Mr James Dean which was written alongside her sister - the very relationship the newer track dissects. Here, she captures the disorientation of estrangement: wanting to repair, yet feeling powerless in the face of emotional distance. The Optimist may be her most candid moment, unpacking her relationship with her father and yearning for a purer, more uncomplicated love. Stripped back with acoustic guitar, it stands apart from the albums synth-driven core and allows her vocal subtleties to shine. 

Whilst the albums lead single, Mature, is undeniably a pop record at heart, it subtly weaves in indie-rock undertones. Textural guitars give it a slightly roughened edge, and is a nod to the pop-rock spirit of her earlier albums. It’s a clever fusion that bridges who she was with who she is now. Meanwhile, Future Tripping comes closest to bubblegum pop, though its spiralling, almost chaotic lyricism keeps it firmly grounded in adult anxieties.

The albums closer, Adult Size Medium, is a striking finale - arguably one of the strongest in recent pop memory. Here, Duff addresses the shadow of fame, interrogating how two decades in the spotlight have shaped her sense of self. “Is my reflection someone else's I stole? But if it's mine can I still keep it, If I can't see me in it?” she ponders. It extends beyond celebrity, into identity itself. Beneath the glitz, she reminds us she has always been navigating the same uncertainties as anyone else, simply under brighter lights. 

The rollout of luck … or something cleverly mirrors this balance between past and present. Duff revisited key moments from her early career, completing a mini-tour built largely around her back catalogue and re-recording select fan favourites for updated 2026 versions. Nostalgia plays a role, but it’s reframed through an mature lens - less about reclaiming youth, more about recontextualising it. In doing so, she reconnects with the audience who grew up alongside her, whilst shedding rhetorical constraints of teenage archetypes. 

Across the album, Duff sounds settled yet searching, confident but reflective. It’s the work of an artist who understands her history, honours it, and still feels compelled to evolve. 

luck ... or something is out now.

HILARY DUFF THE LUCKY ME TOUR AUSTRALIA 2026

With Special Guest La Roux

Tickets on sale today at 1pm (local)

Tuesday 20 October

Spark Arena, Auckland

Thursday 22 October

Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane

Saturday 24 October

Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Monday 26 October

Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

Tuesday 27 October

Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne NEW DATE

Thursday 29 October

RAC Arena, Perth