Because singer Olivia Rodrigo and actor Louis Partridge are my close, personal friends — I follow them on Instagram — I was naturally distraught to find out about their breakup. That was until I remembered it would lead to a newly inspired breakup album from our purple pop queen.
Olivia Rodrigo’s third studio album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” was released Friday.
The album was everything you would expect: very sad, characteristically edgy, and it included a couple of hits sure to top the charts. But in my opinion, it fell a bit flat.
Granted, I’m sure if I were going through a breakup with a beautiful, successful British boy like Partridge, the music might hit a lot harder, but instead, all I could think was that some of these songs would be great to run to.
The album opens with the first single Rodrigo released this cycle: “drop dead.” It was great the first few times I listened to it, with a beat you can’t help but bump your head to. Unfortunately, I’m already tired of bumping my head to it.
“stupid song” is one of my favorites on the album: good for a break up, or even a healthy happy relationship. But it’s a little too classic, with a slow buildup that never comes back down. The chorus, “You’re a spark in the dark, and my clothes all caught aflame,” did hit particularly hard, though.
The third song, “honeybee” is … sweet? That’s honestly the only way I could describe it. It’s slower, but in a good way, and it reminds me of her older music. It even has a bit of a “drivers license” or Gracie Abrams-esque flair.
On “maggots for brains,” Rodrigo illustrates a disgusting visual with a captivating beat. This was one of the songs I definitely would listen to while running.
As much as I love all the girlhood TikToks creators are making with “u + me = <3,” the song feels endearing but adolescent, like a Disney Channel jam straight from the 2000s. Meanwhile, “my way” has a bunch of techno beats — I think that’s what they’re called — but I honestly hated its instrumentation. Put the rock guitars away honey, you’re a popstar at heart.
Now listen, I love purple as much as the next girl, but what does it mean to “see the world in purple?” Because of this forced metaphor, I really couldn’t connect to this song’s lyrics and couldn’t see past them.
“the cure” is arguably the best song on the album, and that’s saying a lot because during the first two minutes, Rodrigo’s whispy voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard. After that, it’s totally brilliant.
“begged” was mediocre. I got bored, and it was a bit too slow for me. There’s no denying that Rodrigo’s voice is beautiful, but there was no connection throughout the song for me. During the track’s supposed climaxes, she just got louder or her pitch got higher, but there was almost no beat to accompany her vocal performance.
“what’s wrong with me” with Robert Smith was nice in theory, and I love him as part of the British rock band The Cure, but I disliked his feature on this album.
The album ends with “less,” “expectations” and “cigarette smoke.” While “less” was much too slow considering it followed two other slow, sad songs, “expectations” was exhilarating, and “cigarette smoke” ending the entire album with “the memories go dark” was a great full circle moment.
To Rodrigo’s credit, her visuals — the album cover and music videos — all create a strong brand for the album. All considered, her somewhat edgy popstar character and identity as the queen of the breakup songs held strong with “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.”
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