American actress and singer Olivia Rodrigo has already had a fantastic 2021. At the beginning of the year, she released the worldwide hit “drivers license”. It became her debut single that broke multiple international records. The expectations for Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album SOUR are thus sky-high!
Suddenly, Olivia Rodrigo emerged. A Disney star with a leading role in the Disney+ series “High School Musical: The Musical – The Series” (HSMTMTS). In this tv show, Rodrigo also sings, but her debut single is not taken from the show. It is a song about her broken relationship with HSMTMTS co-star Joshua Bassett. With this top single, Rodrigo immediately sets the tone for her debut album.
Other singles like “deja vu” and “good 4 u” further prove Rodrigo’s hit potential, with “good 4 u” sounding like it could be a track from Paramore. The complete album SOUR consists of 11 songs, with the three previously released singles turning out to be the best on the album.
As “drivers license” hinted, the album’s central theme is heartbreak. Olivia Rodrigo addresses it in various ways, with “traitor” discussing her ex’s fast new relationship and “enough for you” describing how everything she did during the relationship wasn’t enough for him.
Repetitive debut by Olivia Rodrigo
An album centered around heartbreak often results in great albums, as seen with “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac, “21” by Adele, or Miley Cyrus’s recent album “Plastic Hearts.” Unfortunately, SOUR doesn’t quite fit into this list.
The album starts surprisingly strong with the pop-punk track “brutal” but quickly returns to the theme of “drivers license.” It’s worth noting that “drivers license” is an incredibly good song, where Rodrigo beautifully tells and describes how things could have been between her and her ex, in a style reminiscent of Taylor Swift. And Taylor Swift happens to be a significant influence on Rodrigo.
Influences from Lorde and Taylor Swift
Alongside Lorde, Taylor Swift was a major influence on this album, and it shows. With tracks sometimes leaning towards Lorde’s style and other times towards Swift’s, the styles of both singers are present. Swift’s influence is evident on “1 step forward, 3 steps back,” where Rodrigo directly builds upon Taylor Swift’s “New Year’s Day” from her 2017 album “Reputation.” She does this with Swift’s permission, as she co-wrote the song herself. Swift’s regular producer, Jack Antonoff, is also involved in this track. Antonoff has produced albums like “Folklore” and “Evermore” for Swift, as well as Lana Del Rey’s “Chemtrails Over The Country Club.”
Overall, Olivia Rodrigo has released a solid debut album with SOUR. The album’s focus is a bit too heavily on her broken relationship, causing the non-single tracks to not quite stand out. However, the closing songs, “jealousy, jealousy” and “hope ur ok,” redeem the album in part. Her messages about unrealistic body images on social media (“jealousy, jealousy”) and the (un)acceptance of LGBTQ+ children in their homes (“hope ur ok”) come across well. It’s a decent conclusion to a reasonably good debut album!
Curious about her sophomore album? Checkout the review for GUTS.
