Over the past few years Olivia Rodrigo has taken pop culture by a storm, from ‘Drivers Licence’ to her appearance in Disney’s ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’, the 18-year-old actress/songwriters debut album combines elements of the pop punk era to Taylor Swift’s heartbreak anthems.
Reflecting on the young singer’s debut album ‘Sour’, this is probably one of my most listened to albums in a single time period, so much so that my ‘2021 Spotify Rewind’ was entirely her songs in order!
We begin with arguably the album with the most angsty teen song she’s written - ‘brutal’. Throughout this song, and the album, she pays reference to early 2000’s pop idols such as Paramore’s Haley Williams and Avril Lavigne. Although my least favourite of the album, the catchy chorus does become an earworm.
Just before its release, many fans speculated, predominantly on TikTok, that each song on the album reflected each stage of a break-up. However, Rodrigo manages to not follow the same musical tone throughout the album, which was something she was keen to achieve by not having the entire album sound like ‘drivers license’, the first song of the album that was released as a single in January 2020.
On the release of the album, there was much controversy with Rodrigo’s writing style and some audiences questioned her song writing ability. However, the young artist has truly taken the pop industry by a storm and lyrically takes influence from her personal idols such as Taylor Swift. Miss Swift even makes an appearance on the album itself by contributing to writing of ‘1 step forward, 3 steps back’. The song also includes the melody from one of Swift’s songs, ‘New Years Day’ (Mcneal, 2021).
Moving on to discuss arguably her most popular song of the album – ‘good 4 u’. The influences of the early 2000’s idols are even more evident in this single, which no doubt has added to its success. In comparison to songs such as ‘traitor’ and ‘happier’, ‘good 4 u’ is the hard-hitting rock anthem of break up songs for everyone to scream their lungs out to. Briefly, an honourable mention is one of my personal favourites of the album – ‘happier’. The entire song feels as if you’re on a carousel with a sweet, dream like melody.
Overall, Rodrigo has created an album that is sure to both cure and bring back some of the most heart wrenching experiences young people go through. As a result, her album almost creates a therapeutic way of helping audiences understand and come to terms with their feelings. I wish I could go back and listen to this album for the first time again because the grip it had on me was insane. I look forward to what the future holds for Miss Rodrigo and how her talent is sure to grow!