OLIVIA RODRIGO DEJA VU REVIEWS LICENSE
OLIVIA RODRIGO DEJA VU REVIEWS SERIES

“Cause who am I if not exploited? / And I’m so sick of seventeen / Where’s my fucking teenage dream?” she sneers on the punk-rock track before delivering its zinger of a hook: “it’s brutal out here.” The opening track, “brutal,” for instance, sees Olivia singing lyrics on teenage problems and generational trauma over crackling, wiry, guitar-driven instrumentals not unlike those of, say, Hole, Garbage, Elastica, and Jagged Little Pill-era Alanis Morissette. “I hope you’re happy / But not like how you were with me / I’m selfish, I know, I can’t let you go ‘ So find someone great, but don’t find no one better,” Olivia croons over a haunting and sparse piano-driven melody.įor all of the juicy bits teased by the album’s melodrama, however, Sour shines best when it shifts its focus to things other than The Ex Lover. The same can be said for “happier,” in which an extremely self-aware Olivia sings about wanting the best for a past lover while at the same time, wanting to remain an indelible presence in their life.

Nestled between “drivers license” and “deja vu,” and interpolating the melodies of Taylor Swift’s “New Year’s Day,” the song sees Olivia singing about an emotionally abusive partner - “You got me fucked up in the head, boy / Never doubted myself so much / Like, am I pretty? Am I fun, boy? / I hate that I give you power over that kinda stuff” - a ballsy move, considering the demographic most of her fans are in.

In fact, most of the tracks are so well-written, that it actually feels intimate - voyeuristic, even - to listen to Olivia as she sings about this emotionally charged part of her teenage life.Ī good example of this is “favorite crime,” a track in which she implies that while the erring ex-lover is still the one who did the hurting in the relationship, she takes accountability for the times when she let herself be treated badly all in the name of what she thought was love.Īnother album highlight is the ballad “1 step forward, 3 steps back.” Sour, as an album, largely succeeds because of the sheer honesty present in its songs. Or the somber and folksy “enough for you,” the album’s seventh track, which details the all-too familiar and all-too relatable folly of putting in too much effort for someone who just doesn’t appreciate them. Take, for instance, “traitor,” which swaps out punk rock for some devastating electronic balladry, with Olivia singing about an ex-lover’s betrayal over a gorgeous synth and guitar-heavy backing instrumental. And while that may seem too trite of a concept to build an entire LP on, Olivia tackles it from a surprisingly self-aware and breathtakingly honest perspective. Released on May 21, the album is an exploration of predominantly teenage emotions: anger, jealousy and sadness. Olivia’s skill at wielding her emotions - as well as her wide range of musical influences - is especially pronounced in Sour, her debut album under Geffen Records. Instead of narrating a celebratory trip to her beau’s house, however, the track - sung in Olivia’s trademark whispery vocals and steeped in tender longing and self-doubt - instead bares the singer’s thoughts as she attempts to make sense of a relationship’s crushing, unfortunate end.

OLIVIA RODRIGO DEJA VU REVIEWS LICENSE

The California native, however, is best known for her debut single “drivers license,” a melancholic ballad about teenage heartbreak which, according to Billboard, smashed global streaming records almost overnight, effectively catapulting the 18-year-old multi-hyphenate into global superstardom.ĭescribed by Slate as “ the ultimate in Gen Z pop,” Olivia’s debut outing is a stirring and glittering track about every (American) teen’s traditional cultural milestone: getting a driver’s license and going on that first drive.

OLIVIA RODRIGO DEJA VU REVIEWS SERIES

Olivia, for the benefit of the uninitiated, first broke into the mainstream by playing the leads in the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark, and the ongoing Disney+ production High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

With Olivia Rodrigo’s meteoric rise on the pop charts, however, I think it’s perfectly safe to say that we have already witnessed one. The chances of someone seeing the birth of a supernova with their naked eye within the next five decades, according to astronomers, is pegged at a measly 20 percent.

Olivia rodrigo deja vu reviews