Olivia rodrigo deja vu reviews7/2/2023 ![]() Even the title is a reclamation of the word “sour”, with its connotations of bitter, undesirable women. ![]() In an interview with the Guardian earlier this month, Rodrigo said she was proud the record revolved around emotions that “aren’t really socially acceptable especially for girls: anger, jealousy, spite, sadness”. The seething pop-punk of Good 4 U has her incredulous at the irony of everything: “I guess that therapist I found for you, she really helped.” She uncovers yet more hypocrisy on the sad and stately Traitor - “Remember I brought her up and you told me I was paranoid?” - and is fundamentally bruised on Enough for You: “I don’t want your sympathy, I just want myself back.” Rodrigo uses the album as a way to do that, by setting down the terms of her own reality, over and over again.Īnd if she sounds like a broken record, that’s the point: what makes Sour such a great album is that its maker is unafraid to make a nuisance of herself. Rodrigo imagines her ex recycling dates with his new squeeze over the Taylor Swiftian pop of Deja Vu (“Don’t act like we didn’t do that shit too”). In a satisfying mirroring of form and content, almost every single song on Sour –written entirely by Rodrigo and producer Daniel Nigro – deals with the enormity of this development baldly, bluntly, and with none of the meaningless word salad that popstars often hide behind. The realisation that somebody you once knew and loved can unilaterally revert back to being a complete stranger – and by doing so seemingly erase all the time you spent together – is among the biggest and most unpleasant shocks of adulthood. This isn’t just about romantic rejection: for Rodrigo, reality has been irrevocably ruptured, and she is deeply disturbed. At 18, Rodrigo, sentimental, furious, mired in self-pity, is staggered at the way her ex-boyfriend has moved on (“I just can’t imagine how you could be so OK now that I’m gone,” begins the chorus crescendo). Drivers License – a portentous power ballad backed by plummeting drones and minimalist percussion – was written among the ruins of first love. The production (by “drivers license” co-writer Dan Nigro, who has worked with Carly Rae Jepsen, Sky Ferreira, and Caroline Polachek), is delightfully ensnaring, and Rodrigo leans into the sassy, bittersweet catharsis.And yet, both the song and the album it is taken from are propelled by an energy that’s about as far from cold, number-crunching rationality as it is possible to get. ![]() If “drivers license” channeled the intimate storytelling of Taylor Swift, “deja vu” nods towards Lorde’s offbeat melodrama and, eventually, Florence and the Machine’s grandiosity. Instead of pitting two young women against each other, “deja vu” directs its ire towards some unoriginal dude who keeps forcing “Uptown Girl” on his lovers-even though it was Rodrigo who introduced her ex to Mr. “I bet she’s bragging to all her friends/Saying you’re so unique,” she sings, throwing in a smug “hmph” for good measure. Rodrigo catalogs these activities over a twinkly melody, twisting the tension before the big reveal: She’s not the love interest anymore. Once again, the narrative centers around an expired romance with distinctly theater-kid vibes: watching Glee reruns, trading clothing, being unabashedly annoying. The song’s delicate final moment-“’Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street”-is basically tattooed on the public consciousness.Īfter such a tremendous debut, Rodrigo’s next move would determine if she would be deemed a one-hit wonder or pop music’s next heavyweight. “And that’s the beauty of it, you got a problem?” retorted host Regé-Jean Page. It even got its own effusive “Saturday Night Live” skit: “Sounds like it’s just some teen girl singing in her room to her piano,” remarked Pete Davidson. ![]() Fueled by a juicy subplot involving a Disney love triangle (with speculative responses from the other involved parties), “drivers license” debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and broke Spotify’s record for the most song streams in a week. ![]() The introductory single from the 18-year-old actress, known for her roles in the Disney shows Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, followed a heartbroken Rodrigo on a spin through suburbs, lamenting what could have been. No one-especially not Olivia Rodrigo-expected “drivers license” to become the biggest song on the planet overnight. ![]()
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