Olivia Rodrigo: SOUR review – a teen pop triumph

Ambitious and often thrilling, Olivia Rodrigo’s debut is slice of exemplary Gen Z pop, bursting with all the energy and raw emotion that comes with being young today.

Few artists in history have had a debut as wildly successful as Olivia Rodrigo’s. After achieving moderate fame from acting in Disney shows like Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, she unleashed debut single drivers license in January this year, and the world hasn’t quite been the same since. I’m not even exaggerating – drivers license wasn’t just a hit, it was an inescapable global phenomenon, breaking the record for the most streams recorded on Spotify in a single day – twice. A resplendent slow-burn that looked back on a fresh teenage breakup, the song spread like wildfire on TikTok. Approach any Western 16-25 year old and they’ll likely be able to at least hum Olivia’s stunning, rising chorus melody with ease, even if they’ve never heard the song in its entirety. The song also happens to include one of the best, most heart-wrenching bridges you’ll hear all year. It’s only 2021 and drivers license has already more than confirmed its place as one of the defining pop songs of the decade.

The risk when you have a song like that sitting pretty on track 3 is that the remaining 10 tracks may sound like underwhelming companion pieces. To that end, a genuinely shocking heavy rock guitar entry hits like a splash of cold water to the face on blistering opener brutal, shattering any concerns about an album bloated with ballads. Refreshingly, Rodrigo’s lyrics also don’t seem totally dedicated to a certain boy that we came to know on drivers license (almost definitely fellow High School Musical star Joshua Bassett). Instead, she runs through everything holding her down as a Gen Z-er, from her crippling anxiety to inability to parallel park. The bite in brutal is not just in the distortion and punk aesthetic but those lyrics; “Where’s my fucking teenage dream?” hits home in particular after the cheerless year we’ve all had. jealousy, jealousy is another edgy pop stunner, with the focus turned more tightly on how it is at all possible to keep a positive self image in the era of Instagram and its “cool vintage clothes and vacation photos”. A thumping piano bassline steals the show, and the central hook simmers with flawless vocal harmonies. 

Whilst jealousy, jealousy may focus on Rodrigo herself, it’s a certain Mr. Bassett that dominates SOUR. He’s introduced on subtly powerful organ-led ballad traitor, which serves as a first example of the strong Taylor Swift influence that pervades much of the album’s more lowkey tracks. Poignant 1 step forward, 3 steps back is in fact so similar to Taylor’s New Year’s Day that she’s been given official songwriting credit. That said, to call SOUR a Taylor knockoff would be unfair – I can’t imagine Taylor attempting the ambitious time changes that Rodrigo pulls off in 1 step forward, for example.

deja vu threatens to be a second attempt at drivers license but a fuzzy guitar lead and wonderfully off-kilter drum groove are game changers, resulting in a strikingly original, artsy pop track that deserves all the attention it’s been getting as SOUR’s second single. good 4 u follows similar lines lyrically but is even better – a power pop belter that is set to be one of my most listened-to songs of the year. The verses are tight, the production is spotless and the chorus is perhaps the strongest on the entire album. It’s the sort of song that makes me desperate to be at a cramped, sweaty party, screaming out the lyrics with friends at a deafening volume. At the very least I’ll be singing good 4 u in the car whenever I get the opportunity.

Rodrigo may seem obsessed with this boy who quickly moved on to another girl (incidentally rumoured to be yet another Disney costar), but there does seem to be an arc towards maturity and moving on throughout SOUR. The boy may start the album as a “traitor”, but later on Rodrigo appears to admit some contribution to the problem in favorite crime. “One heart broke four hands bloody” she sings before a scintillating chorus of sharp vocal harmonies and mournful acoustic guitar. The moment of realisation – that there may be two sides to the story here – sounds devastating beyond words. As devastating as any teenage heartbreak, in fact. hope ur ok neatly ties up the album as an understated closer, with Rodrigo seemingly coming to terms with the breakup at last. “Nothing lasts forever,” she sings in an understandably exhausted whisper, “and I hope that you’re happier today”. It’s a touching moment of stillness after all the anger and tears of the previous 35 minutes of music.

Critics will point out – with some justification – Rodrigo’s to-the-point lyrics are on the most part strictly focused to that certain unfaithful boyfriend. Does she really have to be defined by some silly boy that we don’t really care about? Isn’t this a missed opportunity for some 2020s pop feminism? The truth is, the loud-and-proud Lizzo brand of feminism and self-love should be encouraged, but not enforced. Big breakups really do feel apocalyptic when you’re 17, and SOUR gives voice to that somewhat immature catastrophising and the intense feelings that quips like “being a whole damn meal” won’t fix. Just like real adolescence, SOUR feels equal parts heartbreaking and exhilarating, devastating and life affirming. I have no doubt I’ll look back on SOUR when I’m much older and find the perfect soundtrack to reminisce about these crazy, golden years.