“I wish I could be a teenager in the ’90s, because that’s my favorite music ever,” says Rodrigo, namechecking both Apple and Morrissette as influences for Sour. Still, the terrain of romantic torment feels most natural, recalling some of the greatest alt-rock records of the ’90s, from Alanis Morrissette’s Jagged Little Pill to PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me to Fiona Apple’s Tidal. Not all the songs are about heartbreak: the album’s closer, “hope ur ok,” pays tribute to lost connections with old friends-a boy with an abusive father, and a gay friend with homophobic parents-whose triumph in the face of adversity continues to inspire Rodrigo. “If someone tells me one more time / ‘Enjoy your youth,’ I’m gonna cry.” “I’m so sick of seventeen / Where’s my fucking teenage dream?” Rodrigo wails. The album’s opener, “brutal,” erupts into a thunderous guitar riff that sits somewhere between Elastica’s “Connection” and a song you might expect from a Warped Tour headliner circa the year 2000. Rodrigo’s natural ear for the epic balladry that characterized “drivers license” might be in full force across the record, but it’s the edgier moments that leave the strongest impression. And at the center of this mania sits Rodrigo herself, who, she makes a point of noting, is still just 18. By this point, a Grammys win for Best New Artist next year is pretty much on lock, while “drivers license” is already a bookie’s favorite for Record of the Year. Her following single “deja vu,” released in April, furthered this narrative with its razor-sharp observations on the pain of watching an ex move on with somebody new. (Its current total sits just above 750 million listens.) Boosting the intrigue around the record was its purported commentary on Rodrigo’s previous relationship with Joshua Bassett, another Disney teen idol. The song rocketed straight to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, breaking Spotify’s record, twice, for the most daily streams ever of a non-holiday song. At the beginning of January, she dropped her debut single “drivers license”-an irresistible hit that blends the intimacy of a Taylor Swift heartbreak anthem with the theatrical sweep of a Lorde ballad-and suddenly, Rodrigo was everywhere. Then, towards the end of 2020, she quietly signed a deal with Geffen Records. Known mostly for her appearances in the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark and the amusingly titled High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, both of which earned her strong reviews, her mid-level fame was simply that of your average Disney star. This time last year, you would have been hard-pressed to find anyone above the age of 16 who had heard of Olivia Rodrigo.
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