Third attempt has proven successful for Olivia Rodrigo, who seems innately incapable of not releasing one of the year's most engaging albums with every attempt. Few artists have launched with such a triumphant third album as Rodrigo and her producing and co-writing partner, Dan Nigro, who have managed it again with "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love." But what exactly "again" means is nuanced, as the departures from familiar style go far beyond simply ditching one-word titles. After two excellent but broadly similar albums, "Sour" and "Guts," it was inevitable that they would need to step away from their signature sound and firmly establish that they weren't content to stick with just one approach. Even if that first approach was pretty good.
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The first thing that strikes you upon first listen to You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love is that Rodrigo and Nigro have pulled off a clever tradeoff. The pop-punk stylings of the most furious sections of the first two albums are gone, as promised… but the rock is still there. At least, if you consider «80s [or 90s] rock»—to quote the old slogans of Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM—rock. Roughly half the album is devoted to reviving classic new wave sounds, something at least hinted at in the lead single, «Drop Dead,» which featured a mid-song synth line that, albeit briefly but delightfully, threatened to turn it into a Flock of Seagulls tune. Friends, there's more, and if you're yearning for that slightly pre-grunge era when giant synth riffs and drum machines ruled rock, there are about half a dozen songs here that will make you smile silly. After listening to the album's penultimate track, "Expectations," I thought, "Missing? Found!" It's a little ridiculous and utterly wonderful.
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Of course, it's not just the kitschier side of new wave that attracts these collaborators. The album traces the development of a love affair: Rodrigo's love affair with The Cure. The pre-released tracks made that clear. First came "Drop Dead," in which Rodrigo addressed listeners with the words, "You know all the words to 'Just Like Heaven' / And I know why he wrote them / Now that you're standing here." Then came a second single that had nothing to do with The Cure, except that it was called "The Cure." Then, Rodrigo surprisingly revealed at Primavera that Robert Smith sang lead vocals on the new album's "What's Wrong With Me." You might think that would be the end of it, but that's before you finally turn the album on and discover that it has the missing piece—a song that truly sounds like The Cure's "Maggots for Brains." She went beyond The Cure trilogy on this album and created a kind of The Cure super-trilogy.
If the entire album were permeated with this late-'80s/early-'90s revival, one might wonder if Rodrigo was suffering from a "skull worm." No, just a "brain worm"—and while these new wave references are enjoyable, they're more of a recurring motif than anything that transforms "You Seem Pretty Sad..." into a kind of revival-inspired concept album. The less energetic tracks showcase her penchant for acoustic ballads. (Welcome back, "Lacy"—in a charming vein.) Among the 13 tracks, there's also a fair amount of what can only be described as contemporary pop, devoid of any nostalgic elements, save for the superb use of layered choral voices by her and Nigro, reminiscent of some of the great harmony-driven folk-pop records of yesteryear. It's the most musically diverse of her three studio albums, and that works to its advantage; now is the perfect time in a career to make sure everyone understands they haven't fully realized their potential right away.
But it's the emotional tone that will linger long after you've finished arguing online about which electric guitar sound is more reminiscent of New Order or The Strokes. There's a secondary love story unfolding here, beyond her relationship with Robert Smith, and Rodrigo explained quite effectively in the release notes that thematically this will be a two-part album. (The demarcation is literally where the record switches sides, though you'll quickly get the idea if you're an internet user.) The first seven songs describe Rodrigo's dizzying fall in love with a new love, while the remaining six tracks on the flip side of the record tell of her realizing she's never been as happy as she thought, and how boredom leads to an almost anti-climactic breakup. She said that intended experiment with a completely upbeat album, but circumstances changed, and the diaristic nature of contemporary pop music, which involves songwriting, required a certain courage in describing how things went wrong. By the album's end, it becomes clear that for a girl in romantic limbo, she seems to be quite distressed by her broken heart.
The mood that this largely chronological album ultimately takes will strike some fans as more soothing than the carefree period with which it begins. Of course, we like her when she's angry! Except that anger isn't the dominant emotion here—though there are familiar glimpses of it, especially on the touching and regretful closing track, "Cigarette Smoke." Whatever the relationship Rodrigo describes, it doesn't seem to have ended in infidelity or any other terrible behavior that would return her to the recriminations that were among the best on previous albums. There aren't a lot of gory or even meticulously crafted details about what went wrong; it's mostly just the sense that her partner became passive while she remained, or tried to remain, passionate. The realization that love won't survive falling in love is more challenging to write than a more provocative topic like infidelity, but Rodrigo pulls it off.
In her lyrics, Rodrigo repeatedly mentions a pain in her stomach, trying to figure out if this love she sings about is really as good as it seems. As for the album's second half, it's like she's drinking Pepto-Bismol. The world has already heard "The Cure," in which Rodrigo seems to be declaring a hidden toxicity in her blood that even her partner's best efforts can't overcome. It's the central track, the opener of Side Two, and the album's best song, clocking in at nearly five minutes, starting with a fast acoustic riff in the style of Smashing Pumpkins or Foo Fighters and building to a snare-and-strings crescendo that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. "I've got toxins in my blood / You tried so hard to suck them out / And it's like medicine / And I'm sure it's good for me," she sings. "But no matter how your love makes you feel, it'll never be medicine." It's a classic anthem of self-denial and self-doubt, in the vein of "It's not you, it's me," and with such a powerful surge to the end, you can't help but think: how could this not be the culmination of the album?
Well, there's still plenty of story to tell before the actual breakup, and before the album's finale, where she says, "It's not me, it's you." On the simple ballad "Begged," recently premiered on "SNL," Rodrigo acknowledges that her lover says and does everything right, but it doesn't mean as much as it should because she had to pry it out of him. The haunting feeling intensifies on the duet with Smith, "What's Wrong With Me," where, over old-school synths and the simplest of drum machine beats, the two singers trade verses about how "I'm dizzy and nauseous / Say I'm in love, so it's hard to confess / I can't eat, I can't sleep / I think you're what's wrong with me." The melody is peppy enough to pass as a catchy love song rather than a song about "« "My boyfriend is a real virus."» .
But on the piano-driven "Less," a song about a torch going out, it's impossible not to notice how that unease turns into genuine heartache. It's the closest the singer has ever come to a traditional song, and she explores this unexpected genre beautifully, infusing real pain into a witty lyrical twist when her partner "does the honorable thing" and, after a failed attempt to rekindle the embers by recreating their first date, ends up breaking a string himself. "If loving me means letting go and wishing me well," she sings, "then I guess I wish, wish, wish, wish you loved me less." And suddenly, a series of songs dedicated to romantic longing takes a sharp, heartbreaking turn that no antacid can cure.
If you think this is a bleak way to end the album—and it is—well, you can always return to that heady, schoolgirl-crush first half. Anyone who's young, in love, and looking to revel in that feeling can simply turn it off after track seven, and if you're more cynical, you can enjoy these upbeat songs about falling in love knowing that the heroine is ultimately headed for an unhappy ending, just as the most heartless person can enjoy Maria feeling beautiful in West Side Story. Rodrigo truly embraces (seemingly) true love unabashedly in the early numbers where all eyes are on her, like "Silly Song," whose chorus declares, "I love you more than any silly song could ever say," which she actually belies in the sparkling, perfectly precise verses.
Writing about happiness is harder than composing a good sad song, as almost any writer will tell you, so it's truly refreshing to see Rodrigo proving herself a master of crafting funny love songs whenever possible. In "Drop Dead," she writes about a first date: "All in line for the bathroom / You look like an angel on the walls of Versailles," and whether or not you're inclined to accompany your significant other in line for the opposite-sex bathroom, you know exactly why this seems so rapturous to Rodrigo in the throes of affection. She admits she's uttered similar lines before, but in "u + me ="
Along these dual paths to romantic rapture and disillusionment, there are a few pleasant detours. The highlight of side one is «My Way,» a song whose title could only have come from a songwriter under 40, and it’s the closest thing to pop-punk on the album; the style is practically present, though the arrangement is more focused on retro synths than guitar. It’s a rock «n» roll song about female jealousy, in which Rodrigo lashes out at her boyfriend’s ex, whom she’s clearly stalking online: «You post another photo / In clothes that I know are his / You’re acting so damn weird / Maybe I’m a shallow bitch / But you made me do it / That’s it, I win!» There are plenty more mature moments on the album after this, but if you like Rodrigo on “All American Bitch,” it’s nice to get such a delightfully childish tune before things go south.
And it would be a mistake to claim that the entire second side is a drag, though it is a rather sad stretch. The penultimate track, "Expectations," is actually one of the album's most uplifting moments, as Rodrigo vows to learn from failing to listen to her heart by settling for relationships with unworthy men, presumably including the one the rest of the second half is about. With its comically retro synth bassline and handclap percussion, as well as a male choir repeating her line, "She's got very high expectations," the track almost veers into '80s territory, reminiscent of Toni Basil or Material Girl, but with wiser lessons. For example: "I won't lose faith / I don't think my future husband's in that bar in Silverlake.".
But when the song's final section, "Cigarette Smoke," returns to its mournful form, it becomes increasingly angry and frightening, as the singer attempts to mourn a love that simply ended without serious injury. "I resent you for not being brave / Tell me something honest / So the memories grow dark"—a sentiment familiar to anyone who has experienced the end of a relationship that seemed mostly normal and might need a good cry. In this song, she finds it difficult to be angry about the breakup, but she practically demands a reason to be even more angry, because, like so many women before her, she realizes in hindsight that passivity feels even more insulting than infidelity. (There's one clue as to what might have exacerbated the final tension in real life: "I resent you for taking her side," Rodrigo sings cryptically and without context. Knowing her reluctance to reveal herself in interviews, fans may never know what that phrase actually means. Perhaps it's intended for one listener.)
But whether she's taking it literally or not, Rodrigo is such a gifted storyteller that there's rarely any doubt about the meaning of "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love"... namely, learning to trust the doubt. Her ability to unpack the entire story of a relationship so well—with hints thrown in during the lighter numbers—is further proof of her serious talent, beyond her angelic vocals and utterly charming delivery. One thing is certain: she and Nigro are a couple who should never, ever be apart. And while her audience probably appreciates her breakup songs most, perhaps they won't blame her if the next time she decides to record an entire album about serene love, she ends up with this one.