Olivia Rodrigo’s latest album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love”, combines lyricism with genre blending to create a beautiful exploration of a relationship from start to end. There is very little to critique about this album, but is it perfect?
This is Olivia’s third studio album and perhaps one of her most vulnerable albums.
Her last few albums have been very pop-focused, with ballads being essential to her storytelling. However, on this album, she has gone for an indie-pop sound, drawing on rock influences, with fewer ballads and a clear, step-by-step story for listeners to follow. This album is very different from SOUR and GUTS as it follows a clear story path, however this was unplanned for the album originally. As a result of this Olivia Rodrigo and Dan Nigro are able to foreshadow and provide easter eggs to the songs within each other towards the end of the album.
I’m going to talk about some of my favourite songs from this album as there is too much to comment on to talk about each song individually.
The song “maggots for brains” is one of my personal favourites off this album, as it describes the early stages of the relationship when you are so absorbed in a relationship, it is all you think about, but it is also about losing yourself in a relationship and the weird feelings that come along with it. With lyrics such as “what can I do but think of you”.
Track 6 is “my way”, an angsty rock-pop fusion song talking about the anger of having to deal with your partner’s ex-partners that cross lines. This song has all the angst and anger that makes it a perfect car song that you can scream at the top of your lungs. This is a perfect follow-up from “u + me =<3” as it is such a tone shift from being so in love to being annoyed and angry, it also sets up the other half of the album perfectly, as we understand how this affects the relationship.
As we get towards the end of this album (and relationship), we get to hear “begged”, a much slower-paced song that explores the complexities of trying so desperately to hold onto a relationship that you know is not working and settling into static “To fight back the waves Of a static lovers’ dread”. Having to beg for the attention that you deserve in a relationship is a truly heartbreaking experience.
To end the album, we hear “cigarette smoke” This song explores the difficulties of getting over an ex. “I thought that we played the perfect couple, till you didn’t want the part”. This is the perfect ending to the album, as it ties up the story without leaving listeners feeling like they missed anything.
With a feature from Robert Smith on “what’s wrong with me”, we get to see the clear influences from bands such as The Cure (of which Robert is a part) and Depeche Mode. While this was not my favourite song, as its production was a little bit boring, the songwriting was beautiful but lacked something. However, it is still a great song lyrically.
Critics called this album “Intelligent, witty and complex” and some called it one of her most cohesive albums and some say this is her best album. These songs have humour and grit along with the heart-wrenching nature of this album as a whole.
Olivia has always been a great storyteller, and this album is no exception, while the album is not perfect it is definitely an extremely good album. Telling a fantastic full circle story of this relationship from the fun of “drop dead”, “stupid song” and “honeybee”. With songs such as “begged”, “what’s wrong with me” and “cigarette smoke” exploring the feelings of the relationship getting hard and eventually coming to an end.
Holly Martin 
Kourosh 
samuel aurelio oei 