you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love by Olivia Rodrigo - Album Review

If the title wasn’t big enough of a clue, ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ is a project filled to the brim with complexity and contradiction, one that is guaranteed to take you on an emotional ride that’ll perhaps show a new side to the singer that we hadn’t before seen on her debut and sophomore albums.

With surprise billboards and festival sets accompanied by babydoll dresses notoriously adorned by 90s alt-rock icons, such as Kat Bjelland and Courtney Love, and a break in her aforementioned albums’ all-capital single-word titles, Rodrigo makes a return with her third album with the continued promise of offering a space for listeners to let out all vulnerabilities hidden behind closed doors, particularly the ones attached to lovers old and new and the frustrations that come with being a woman in a world full of comparison.

The record opens with chamber-pop single ‘drop dead’, a track that feels deeply attuned to the New Wave and doesn’t shy away from its references, with The Cure’s Robert Smith acting as an integral role and serving as inspiration in the album (more on that as we go). Its dreamlike fuzz places us alongside Rodrigo herself or whoever the character is at play here as we’re enveloped in a muddle of what-ifs, from watching the gorgeous stranger from across the bar to being pressed against one another in the bathroom line. In that moment, she comes to the dizzying realization that this is exactly what ‘Just Like Heaven’ is all about. The song experiments heavily with the juxtaposition of life and death, as told through the lens of a girl falling in love, but doesn’t shy away from comedic beats of pure irony. In comparing what a man merely standing in a bar is to the likes of “an angel on the wall of Versailles", one can’t help but wonder if this will have a happy ending.

Rodrigo is notorious for heartbreak ballads and feeding into nostalgia, with songs being sonically akin to childhood favourite Avril Lavigne, amongst many other muses, but her third album takes us on a different and warmly welcomed journey. It sets up a tale as old as time — the initial sparks fluttering towards a crush, the sickly sweet honeymoon phase, the first few hints of conflict, and lamenting the excruciating end — arguably creating the most adventurous instalment yet.

The high remains ever present through ‘stupid song’, introduced by a sobering, almost ballad-like piano before quickly shifting its gears towards a fast-paced track, doused in even more 80s beats, only further encompassing the feeling of being in such a state of infatuation that you’re driven to the point of insanity.

However, Rodrigo returns to the more tender sound with ‘honeybee’, a cut that explores the depth of her emotions. Despite the building anxieties throughout the track and the looming fear of the unknown that frequents all our relationships, there’s a truthfulness that feels less like somebody convincing themselves that they’re in love and instead like the real thing and an expression of unfiltered devotion through thick and thin. In a recent interview with Audacy, she hinted towards how one of the songs reminded her of “something people would play at their weddings"; to me, this feels like that song. The eeriness of “Here’s to hoping” certainly doesn’t go unnoticed, but underneath lies the patience of somebody awaiting to hear a promise of forever in return.

Even mellow-esque musings of endearment can quickly reface themselves, and in the lovesickness of ‘maggots for brains’, the insecurities and codependency found within being far apart from the one you love become an all-consuming presence, allowing fantasies of a worst-case scenario that might bring her man home to seep in: “Sometimes at a low point, I even wish for tragedy/‘Cause I know he’d come over and take real good care of me.” Warning signs continued to be scattered as the track list moves on as she indulges in blissful hopefulness, carving ‘u + me = <3’ into trees like rom-com sweethearts, matching perfectly to the humour laced within. The naive bliss doesn’t throw any sense of self-awareness completely to the wind as the very last lines acknowledge the risk of diving headfirst into a new relationship:  “They say modern love’s a cruel endeavour/ And to that I say, "F*** it, whatever."'

Adoration can morph into a whole new creature when possessiveness moves to the forefront on ‘my way’, but the verge of collapse is increasingly more poignant on the disorienting synth-filled ‘purple’, acting as somewhat of a segue to the “pretty sad” aspect in the title; everything begins to crumble. In finding love, she lost her entire identity, and this track is the awakening of that. What once was a perfect blend of two strangers (like colours) becomes something unrecognisable, straying from the brightly defined secondary colour, purple, until it has succumbed to a state of lifelessness.

“Melt with you ‘til it all turns black/Are we so in love? Are we too attached?”

Love can, at times, feel like an intoxicating substance, convincing you to crawl back for more and that it might just be the one thing that can salvage any broken parts, but as the titular song points out, a damaging love will never be ‘the cure’. The repeated yells backing the bridge feel like a cry for help as the overbearing wave of denial when faced with a breakup first hits, questioning why on earth the relationship wasn’t enough, and through fighting self-doubt, she finally reaches a precipice as we approach the album’s conclusion.

My personally most-anticipated track, ‘what’s wrong with me’, featuring Robert Smith, positions itself between two stripped-back acoustic ballads, ones that feel very reminiscent of her 2021 hit single, ‘driver’s license’. As she recollects all that felt misgiving, she emerges from the depths of a bleary daydream, saturated in a genuine assuredness we’re beginning to hear for the first time. In a moment of two differing generations connecting through the shared experience of heartbreak, Rodrigo and Robert Smith create something ethereal, a concoction of raw emotion and mutual understanding that you can’t help but feel every ounce of, ultimately making all prior references so worth the wait.

When retelling stories of an ex-partner or brief encounters, details become discombobulated, or perhaps we try to latch onto falsehoods in order to make ourselves feel a little better about the truth. The penultimate track ‘expectations’ proves that sometimes the harder pill to swallow is the one you have to take. It’s an explosive gathering of all the pent-up tension, fantastically sardonic and confronting, perhaps even catering towards our own personal endeavours and all the people we’ve dismissed, despite their horrendous behaviour.

We reach our end with ‘cigarette smoke’. It isn’t quite a resolution, but it’s the commencement of peace at last regardless of whether it stings: “A real quiet house/With the shower left on/Five beers in the fridge/And the second car’s gone.” Every regretful relationship has its ups, nodding to the callback to ‘honeybee’, but there’s a wonder as to whether they’ll ever negate the lows, and as her voice flickers out like a candle being blown out, it's a signaling of a new start, a life where she remains the centrepiece and her happiness is a priority.

If there’s one thing long-time collaborator and producer Dan Nigro can do, it’s create a tasteful blend of instruments and sounds, never feeling overly disjointed or harsh on the ears. Any and all arrangements are sleek, with even the jumpscare synths following touches of sentimental piano and reaching heights of heavier drum usage, falling nothing short of seamless.

Who’s to say if the cycle will continue and if she’ll find herself in the same position in the future, but speculation aside, we’re left with a stronger sense of optimism that she’ll have all the tools she could ever need to lead a life with a tougher sense of self. After all, we all deserve a partnership that encompasses the very things we need and desire. Rodrigo wore her heart valiantly on her sleeve, giving it her all, and from the perspective of an irregular listener, the payoff was stunning.

Stream you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love:

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WORDS PIPER GAIR

PHOTOS OLIVIA PARKER