Olivia Rodrigo made waves when she released her debut single “Drivers License” back in February and is doing it again this morning with the release of her first album “Sour.”
I think we can officially consider Olivia Rodrigo the queen of the Gen Z music scene. When “Drivers License” came out, it immediately became an anthem for teen girls everywhere. There was not one YouTuber that didn’t cover it, not one TikToker who didn’t choreograph a depressing dance to it, and not one radio station that wasn’t constantly playing it. The song truly took over the Earth. I don’t listen to the radio and even I couldn’t get away from it. Anyways, turns out she is not a one hit wonder and can produce a whole album of hits.
Olivia’s debut album “Sour,” is getting a lot of positive attention from fans and critics everywhere. In their review, NPR called her “a lowercase girl with uppercase feelings,” meaning she is usually the observer. What she did with her album, is take everything she’s been observing and put it into song, along with all her emotions. The LA Times even goes as far as to call her 2021’s breakout pop star. Along with that, they also say she delivered a flawless Gen Z album. Throughout her 11 track album, Rodrigo delivers on the teen angst, and speaks on all the problems Gen Z is facing.
The whole album speaks on something everyone can relate to. The only difference is, instead of trying to relate to everyone, she hones in on her generation. Throughout the entire album, she is singing about trying to get over an ex, while they have already moved on. Anyone else think this whole thing is about Sabrina Carpetner and Joshua Bassett? It’s not a big surprise however that she sings mostly love songs, considering Taylor Swift is her idol. Anyways, the time has now come to rank the top songs on the album.
5. 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back
This is definitely not the best song on her album, but I found it worthy enough to be in the top five. The song is basically about emotional abuse and how negative an impact that can have on a person. In the song, her boyfriend was essentially two different people at all times. She sings about him either being the perfect boyfriend or sending her home crying at the end of the night. For someone so young, Olivia has a lot to say and in this song, she said it so eloquently.
4. Drivers License
You can’t make a list of Olivia Rodrigo’s best songs, without including “Drivers License.” This song really tells a story everyone can relate to. When you are with someone, you make all these plans for the future, and truly believe they will happen. Through her lyrics, she really captured the sting that comes with realizing those things you planned will never come to be. It is even worse, when you see him do those things with someone else. All those emotions were depicted beautifully and she sang it so well.
3. Hope Ur Okay
While the rest of the album is about Olivia fighting her way through heartbreak, this song focuses on the hardships of others. It’s a beautiful song about being there for someone who is struggling. This song is a great reminder that we never know what is happening behind closed doors. It can also serve as a message to anyone who is struggling with the same things as the people in the songs. It is a song with a beautiful message, and the melody and beat behind it is perfect.
2. Happier
Olivia Rodrigo hit it out of the park with this one. Even if someone hasn’t gone through a breakup, they can relate to this. Everyone has that former friend they miss hanging out with, who has found someone new and turned their back on you. Just me? Awkward! Anyways, I really like the way she sounds in this song, and the lyrics and melody are so well put together. The song depicts a girl wishing her ex-boyfriend happiness with his new girl, but not more happiness than when he was with her. This is something so familiar to us all, and the song definitely brought up some emotions I would have rather kept buried.
1. Traitor
While a majority of these songs are Olivia lamenting over her heartbreak, but this one is different. In this song, Olivia puts the blame on her ex, calling him out for his bad behavior and calling him a traitor. During the previous songs, she would wonder what she did wrong, but in this song she claims she knew all along and called out his lies. I think she sounded the best in this song and was really able to show off what she can do vocally. I mean, she sounded great over the whole album but she really popped off in this song. The more girl power approach this song took really elevated it for me and I love it.
Conclusion
I guess it is pretty obvious that I’m more partial to ballads rather than the faster songs. To me, that is what Olivia Rodrigo really does well. Those songs were great, but the emotions are better showcased in her ballads. Anyways, overall this is a great debut. Can’t wait to see what’s next for her, and how many Grammys she wins next year.
What do you think of Olivia’s debut album? What’s your favorite song? Have you listened to it yet? Let me know in the comments!