Since the release of her debut single, Driver's License, in 2021, American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo has gone from strength to strength. With two hugely successful and critically acclaimed albums, Sour (2021) and Guts (2023), already under her belt, Rodrigo has quickly become one of the defining pop voices of her generation. Not to mention collaborations with new-wave royalty David Byrne, having indie legends The Breeders open for her on tour, headlining Glastonbury, and inviting The Cure's Robert Smith on stage for duets of Just Like Heaven and Friday I'm In Love. For Rodrigo, the sky really seems to be the limit.
With the release of you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, Rodrigo further establishes herself as a significant voice in contemporary pop-rock. More importantly, it is her most self-assured, confident and fully realised record to date, showing a clear artistic progression without losing the immediacy and emotional honesty that has made her such an affecting songwriter.
Far beyond the early comparisons to Taylor Swift, and equally distant from the notion of any attempt to market her as some kind of pop-punk caricature, Rodrigo has increasingly carved out a space entirely her own. Throughout this sparkling, effervescent album she deploys some of the finest pop hooks of the decade, whether on the sublime rush of lead single Drop Dead or the spare, heartfelt melancholia of Stupid Song, Honeybee and Less.
The acoustic-led, jangly sadcore of the tongue-in-cheek titled The Cure is a particular revelation, displaying depth, self-awareness and some of the album's most emotionally resonant writing. Elsewhere, there is the explosive youthful energy one might expect from an artist who has only recently turned 23. Tracks including My Way and Expectations capture with wild ambition and restlessness, the exhilaration, freedom but also uncertainty that arrives with adulthood.
Meanwhile, both Maggots for Brains and U + Me = <3 are chiming, upbeat yet bittersweet indie-pop triumphs, their Cure-esque influences worn with pride. Indeed, rather than Swift and her many followers, it is artists such as Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski and Samia that feel like more valid points of comparison throughout the album. There is a greater sense of nuance and authenticity here, a willingness to welcome contradiction and vulnerability without losing its pop instincts.
In a lot of ways, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love can feel like a coming-of-age album. A John Hughes film set to music, full of humour, energy, hope and heartbreak. Central to it is Rodrigo's unshakable spirit and growing confidence as both a performer and songwriter. She may very well already be a global superstar, but this album cements Olivia Rodrigo as one of her generation’s most gifted pop songwriters.
Olivia Rodrigo - you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love is out now on vinyl & CD
