At 18 years old, Olivia Rodrigo’s music entered the industry with immediate embrace and the expectation for it to speak for the generation. Five years later, the success of “SOUR” and “GUTS” has only motivated her to create music that further speaks for herself on her third record. “You seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” is a celebration of the active pursuit of growth, serving both her womanhood and writing. Rodrigo described the album as her “attempt at capturing love from both sides of the coin” through its two halves. These sides are presumably infatuation and disillusionment, bonded by parallel lyrics to being in bed and a lush production palette. The A-side (‘girl so in love’) captures the process of falling for someone as a means of consumption.
The first single, “drop dead,” sees her overcome by the idea and time spent as a new person, a high she continues to chase on “stupid song” and defend mercilessly on “my way.” While these tracks take a theatrical approach to declaring love, the musicality of each track stands true to her lyrical sentiments. In “honeybee”, Rodrigo says “it’s too hard to describe this in a way that feels honest,” so an orchestra and chorus take over the bridge instead of a new stanza– a breath allowing the hook to stick with listeners. “Purple” marks a transition for the record and for Rodrigo, as notions of self-doubt begin to equal, then overtake, her efforts to keep a relationship alive, contrasting the fantasy of previous tracks “maggots for brains” and “u+me=<3”. The analogy of mixing hues harkens back to Halsey’s love of red and blue on “Colors,” with an added twist—“it all turns black.” The B-side (‘you seem pretty sad’) masterfully opens with “the cure,” marking Rodrigo’s realization that her problems are her own, with hints of British soft rock influence through isolated guitars and string arrangement. Her musical antidote might as well be The Cure’s Robert Smith, who appears on “what’s wrong with me.” She also honors the 1980s with synth distortions on “expectations,” also including a chanty bridge reminiscent of Oingo Boingo.
The other strength honed here is Rodrigo’s ballads. “Begged” and “less” hit more softly with their stripped-down production, while the closer “cigarette smoke” bombastically honors the lyrical patterns of self-minimization with a proper build to emotional release. Rodrigo carries these songs effortlessly in her vocal performance. Rodrigo entered this record cycle with a thesis that becoming one with another person allowed her to learn new things about herself. Yet the delicacy of how she writes shows that she didn’t need another person or muse to tell her story. Lyrics on bonus track “never do” show a bit more of her partner’s character, but they never admonish them and rather highlight her frustrations. Through this narrative, fans can grasp female emotions as a beautiful strength. Additionally, Rodrigo’s appreciation for many types of music has led her and producer Dan Nigro to compose for emotion rather than for an algorithm, which stands as a radical form of becoming.
- Ria Skyer
