Olivia Rodrigo is a Pop-Punk Princess on "SOUR"
Olivia Rodrigo has managed to crash onto the scene and become pop’s biggest star in less than a year. Rodrigo exemplifies a new generation of pop stars who have grown up idolizing songwriters like Taylor Swift and embracing the idea that you don’t have to be perfect, making her remarkably human and relatable.
The 18-year-old, who is best known for playing Nini in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, a spinoff from the movie that runs on Disney+, and for her recent, very public breakup with her co-star, released her debut album SOUR on May 21st via Geffen Records.
She seemingly came out of nowhere in January of 2021 with her first single, “drivers license,” which quickly blew up across social media and reached number one on charts in various countries.
Her rise was undoubtedly aided by the very public breakup between her and her ex, Joshua Bassett, whom the song, and presumably the album, is written about.
Rodrigo followed with the release of her second and third singles, “deja vu,” which has much of the same vibe as “drivers license,” and was released in April, and “good 4 u,” which easily sounds like it could’ve been written by Paramore in the early 2000s, and was released in May.
While the entire focus of the album is Rodrigo’s breakup and dealing with the aftermath, not all of the tracks on the album are slow and haunting in the way that “drivers license” and “deja vu” are.
“brutal” has a guitar riff that is reminiscent of 90s grunge and recalls the hey-day of Veruca Salt, or even Nine Inch Nails. The track is all about how Rodrigo isn’t just a sad ballad singer, but also a teenage girl whose life has been thrust into the spotlight.
She sings, “I feel like no one wants me / and I hate the way I’m perceived / I only have two real friends / and lately I’m a nervous wreck.”
Rodrigo’s rant about being a teenager could easily rival any of the collection of songs written about adolescent angst in the early and mid-2000s.
“traitor” is another track that falls within the same style as “drivers license,” which details the aftermath of her breakup. Two weeks after breaking up, her ex began dating the girl that he had told Rodrigo not to worry about. “Guess who didn’t cheat, but you’re still a traitor,” she sings, which details the unspoken rules about dating and breakups.
In an interview with the Guardian, Rodrigo said, “I’m a teenage girl, I write about stuff that I feel really intensely - and I feel heartbreak and longing really intensely - and I think that’s authentic and natural.”
But you can’t discuss Rodrigo’s debut without discussing the artists who have inspired her work. She has described herself as “the biggest Taylor Swift fan in the whole world,” and has also cited Lorde, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morrisette, and St. Vincent as influences.
Taylor Swift, however, is arguably the biggest influence in the technicalities of Rodrigo’s work. She has absorbed her songwriting techniques, cadence, and lyrics, so much so that Rodrigo even credits Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff on the track “1 step forward, 3 steps back,” because it was inspired by “New Year’s Day” from Swift’s 2017 album Reputation, despite the fact that neither actually collaborated on the track with Rodrigo.
SOUR has solidified Rodrigo’s position in pop-music for years to come; this is just the beginning.
The 18-year-old, who is best known for playing Nini in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, a spinoff from the movie that runs on Disney+, and for her recent, very public breakup with her co-star, released her debut album SOUR on May 21st via Geffen Records.
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| Photo via Geffen Records |
She seemingly came out of nowhere in January of 2021 with her first single, “drivers license,” which quickly blew up across social media and reached number one on charts in various countries.
Her rise was undoubtedly aided by the very public breakup between her and her ex, Joshua Bassett, whom the song, and presumably the album, is written about.
Rodrigo followed with the release of her second and third singles, “deja vu,” which has much of the same vibe as “drivers license,” and was released in April, and “good 4 u,” which easily sounds like it could’ve been written by Paramore in the early 2000s, and was released in May.
While the entire focus of the album is Rodrigo’s breakup and dealing with the aftermath, not all of the tracks on the album are slow and haunting in the way that “drivers license” and “deja vu” are.
“brutal” has a guitar riff that is reminiscent of 90s grunge and recalls the hey-day of Veruca Salt, or even Nine Inch Nails. The track is all about how Rodrigo isn’t just a sad ballad singer, but also a teenage girl whose life has been thrust into the spotlight.
She sings, “I feel like no one wants me / and I hate the way I’m perceived / I only have two real friends / and lately I’m a nervous wreck.”
Rodrigo’s rant about being a teenager could easily rival any of the collection of songs written about adolescent angst in the early and mid-2000s.
“traitor” is another track that falls within the same style as “drivers license,” which details the aftermath of her breakup. Two weeks after breaking up, her ex began dating the girl that he had told Rodrigo not to worry about. “Guess who didn’t cheat, but you’re still a traitor,” she sings, which details the unspoken rules about dating and breakups.
In an interview with the Guardian, Rodrigo said, “I’m a teenage girl, I write about stuff that I feel really intensely - and I feel heartbreak and longing really intensely - and I think that’s authentic and natural.”
But you can’t discuss Rodrigo’s debut without discussing the artists who have inspired her work. She has described herself as “the biggest Taylor Swift fan in the whole world,” and has also cited Lorde, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morrisette, and St. Vincent as influences.
Taylor Swift, however, is arguably the biggest influence in the technicalities of Rodrigo’s work. She has absorbed her songwriting techniques, cadence, and lyrics, so much so that Rodrigo even credits Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff on the track “1 step forward, 3 steps back,” because it was inspired by “New Year’s Day” from Swift’s 2017 album Reputation, despite the fact that neither actually collaborated on the track with Rodrigo.
SOUR has solidified Rodrigo’s position in pop-music for years to come; this is just the beginning.
You can listen to SOUR below:
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