Album Review: Olivia Rodrigo, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love

Olivia Rodrigo was always on track to be a big pop star. She rose through the Disney Channel ranks, following in the footsteps of Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, who used their silver screen CVs to become Billboard chart-raiders. After years of vocal lessons, the TV alum leveraged her acting chops to pivot towards music, catching the attention of lauded producer Dan Nigro after posting singing videos to Instagram. But it all truly started with her record-breaking single ‘Drivers License’, Rodrigo’s guileless teen anthem about driving past your ex’s house. From her literally-everywhere debut album sour to the uncompromising sophomore follow-up GUTS, she’s never taken her foot off the accelerator.

After six years in the spotlight, Olivia Rodrigo needs little bolstering. Even the rock music legends are under her spell. Big names like Jack White, St. Vincent and Billy Joel have lauded the young singer’s craft. David Byrne released a cover of her breakout hit ‘Driver’s License’ this year. What’s more, she’s managed to charm her hero Robert Smith onstage for another round of ‘Just Like Heaven’, now The Cure frontman features on her latest album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.

In Ireland, she needs even less promotion. From covering CMAT and Fontaines to getting support from Florence Road on tour, Rodrigo has become something of an adopted daughter here. Who knew ‘Dunboyne’ would ever be in her vocabulary? The pop powerhouse keeps her taste and infuence broad.

That taste is front and centre on you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, which mixes gothic riffage and muted alt-rock strums with the rhapsodic, larynx-stretching caprice of her vocal chords. Paired with Rodrigo’s guts-spilling lyrics that relive her doomed first love, this album might be her best yet. On the opener, ‘drop dead’, her visions of love come true: “If you let me stay the night…I might just have to stay forever”.

Across thirteen tracks, the love story pans out with Icarian drama. On ‘stupid song’, Rodrigo relives the butterfly-inducing early days: “I’m a heart made of wax/ And I’m melting in the sun”. On the goth rock-inflected ‘u + me = <3’, she ignores all who tell her to slow down and chides, “to that I say fuck it whatever”. The album’s B-sides mark a shift from the punch-drunk romanticism towards lovelorn pessimism. On standout track, ‘the cure’, emotional bruises start to form and Rodrigo realises that sometimes love is not enough.

Earlier in the album, Rodrigo fell for the guy who shared her love of The Cure. So when Robert Smith hops on the mic for ‘what’s wrong with me’, a biting nod becomes clear. The singer wastes no bullets in divulging the pain of a failed relationship, and the final three songs do a great deal of emotional gut-punching. Sifting through the rubble, the closing track ‘cigarette smoke’ offers up a biting lovelorn elegy as Rodrigo sings “Give me back my time/ And I will give you back your heart” as the warm “memories go dark”.

In the end, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love snarls with tension, vulnerability and biting honesty. Holding your gaze and forcing you to watch is Olivia Rodrigo at her most raw, unfiltered and unaffected.

• Out now.