“you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” Olivia Rodrigo’s producer, Dan Nigro said to her while recording new music, unknowing that his remark would become her third studio album’s title.
Rodrigo opened her career with “SOUR,” an angsty, insecure, pop-punk, ballad-rich record in 2021 at just 17 years old. She followed it up two years later with “GUTS,” an album that felt like SOUR’s older sister.
Rodrigo now returns to music at 23 years old with “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” a much more emotionally-mature, introspective record than her first two. The album debuted on June 12.
Like “SOUR” and “GUTS,” this album features an eclectic mix of genres from piano ballads to pop-punk. But this time, it’s heavier on ‘80s new wave pop-influences and elegant piano ballads, only dipping into rock.
This album is a story divided into two acts: The “so in love” first half, and the “pretty sad” second half.
Its 13 tracks are presented in chronological order, from Rodrigo and her then-boyfriend, Louis Partridge’s first meet-up in “drop dead,” to the moment they said goodbye in the third to last track “less.”
The choice to order the songs this way is a strength of the album, as it feels like you’re watching a rom-com movie — but without the fairytale ending. As fans sit back and listen to the relationship unfold, evolve and eventually unravel, they find themselves growing more invested and connecting more deeply with every track.
In the past, Rodrigo’s songs connected more to her audience by striking relatability in individual songs, specific feelings and scenarios. With this album presented as its own story, she creates a space for fans to be able to empathize without necessarily sympathizing. They are introduced to a couple, then listen to them drift apart.
“drop dead,” the lead single, is a radio-friendly pop song, sonically fitting for its lovestruck lyrics. It’s upbeat, playful and quite frankly the only love song on the album that doesn’t feel “laced with melancholy,” a feeling Rodrigo noted in her newsletter regarding many of her love songs.
Hearing the first low-octave piano note in track two, “stupid song,” came as a shock, as I was expecting the ballads to be saved in the “pretty sad” latter half of the album. The song quickly picked up into a pop anthem. It’s clever, catchy and satisfying, earning its spot as the third single.
“honeybee” is where the underlying melancholic tones of the album truly begin to surface — simultaneously hopeful and fearful. With background vocals contributed by Conan Gray, fellow sad-songwriter and longtime friend of Rodrigo’s, the song feels haunted by their harmonies, all the way through the chanted outro — a cohesive quality that can also be attributed to many other songs of the album.
The lyrics are hopeful, but the production gives the song a sense of dread. It encapsulates the spirit of “you seem pretty sad for a girl in love.”
“maggots for brains” and “u + me = <3” compete with “drop dead” for the title of most lovestruck song. Sonically, they’re similar as upbeat, retro-pop tracks, but lyrically they’re vastly different.
Vivid imagery is used in “maggots for brains” to describe the empty boredom that is solitude. It wistfully comments on the apparent co-dependency in her relationship, without fully addressing it yet.
Like “honeybee,” it’s masked as a love song, but the subtle foreshadowing reminds listeners of what they’ll hear more of in just a few songs — in other words, the end is coming.
Meanwhile, “u + me = <3” maintains a hopeful tone, still afraid of the end, but not anticipating it.
“my way” momentarily pulls away from the narrative Rodrigo builds around just her and her significant other, introducing a third character: an external threat. These lyrics seethe with jealousy, spilling into the arrangement and creating a final product with an angst comparable to “brutal” from “SOUR” and “obsessed” from “GUTS.”
The more subdued sound Rodrigo embraces on this album fits the maturity of her newfound experience of love — from the angle of a committed relationship. But a song like “honeybee,” juxtaposed with “my way,” only makes the toxicity of her anger feel more repugnant. It emphasizes the song’s message, making for a seamless delivery and a piece of pop-punk perfection.
And so we’ve reached a turning point. “purple” is the last of the “so in love” songs. Lyrically and melodically, this track isn’t necessarily a highlight of the album – the metaphor feels elementary, and the melody just isn’t as satisfying as her other work. Narratively, however, this song is crucial.
For almost the song’s entirety, Rodrigo keeps her rose-colored glasses on, singing about how she and her partner intersect paths and “melt” together and it all sounds lovely, until the glasses come off. “Melt with you ‘til I just feel sad,” she reaches an unfortunate revelation, as the track fades.
As “the cure” begins, the “pretty sad” act 2 commences. Released weeks before the album as its second single, the appeal of “the cure” could have subsided by now, but ensconced in the context of the rest of the album, it takes on a new life. In it, Rodrigo finds herself unraveling as she realizes love doesn’t automatically erase her insecurities.
“begged,” accompanied by harmonies reminiscent of “favorite crime” from “SOUR” and “what’s wrong with me,” featuring The Cure’s Robert Smith, progress the conflict – externally with unmet expectations from her partner, and internally with insecurity, overthinking and doubt.
It’s all built up to “less:” the story of the breakup. The most vulnerable song on the album, “less” is a tearjerking ballad that describes the exact moment when the two decided to call it quits. It’s in this song when it hits you: you’ve just endured an entire relationship, from its highs to its lows, from beginning to end.
It’s not the kind of song that you can simply move on from when it ends, making the transition into “expectations” feel even more jolting. This returns the album to rock, with Rodrigo’s classic adlibbed, talk-singing verses that are uplifting and perfect for a singalong.
Like “my way,” “expectations” utilizes the rock genre as a device to express her confidence. It makes it evident that the piano ballads on this album, though often presented as love songs, have melancholic undertones that slip through the cracks. The arrangements on this album feel carefully curated to synthesize with her truest emotions, even the ones she tries to bury in lovesick lyrics.
Closing with “cigarette smoke,” the final track reflects on the estranged relationship with a newfound resentful lens and a strumming guitar similar to Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees.”
“The memories goes dark” Olivia sings into a whisper, until the song, and the entire album, ends.
“you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” is Rodrigo’s most cohesive record yet, thematically and instrumentally. Every song feels like a plot point in their overarching love story, but even on their own, each one carries its weight.
Rodrigo’s sound is so fitting to her that it has yet to feel overdone. She experiments just enough where you never truly know where her music may venture next.
“you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” is out now and can be heard on her sold-out arena tour, “The Unraveled Tour” later this year.
Rating: 5/5
