Sweaty palms, broken sleep, heart palpitations – are these symptoms of a cold or congestion? In the world, according to Olivia Rodrigo, falling in love is a crushing disease of the soul. Being in love is significantly worse. And the separation? Well, you might as well be dead.
Rodrigo’s third album You look very sad for such a loving girl it’s a 13-track autopsy of a relationship; from its eager, breathless beginnings to its spiraling end. In the music video for “Drop Dead”, the first song of the album, we meet Rodrigo surprising the halls of Versailles, dwelling on all the virtues of her new love: he knows all the words to “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure and looks like an angel. But the disease has already started.
Her anxiety continues all the time. In “Maggots For Brains”, Rodrigo relies on full body horror to illustrate the separation anxiety she feels when she and her lover are apart. (“I’m a zombie in my body”, “I feel dirty, I feel rotten”.) While in “Stupid Song”, she sings about the overwhelming, desperate feeling of being so in love with someone that it’s driving you “completely insane,” skipping meals and sleeping fully clothed.
The blow comes halfway through. Anger sets in early on “The Cure,” with his whispered lament, “I thought I found the antidote with you.” There are hints of a further descent into hysteria: “I am broken.” Here is the frantic realization that it is over. Now comes the pain of admitting that it really is. Less than 24 hours after the album’s release, much has already been written about whether “cigarette smoke”, the last track, is a coded jab at Rodrigo’s ex-boyfriend, actor Louis Partridge. Acceptance does not seem to be easy for Rodrigo. (“I’m sorry for you, the one I let slip/ I’m mad you took her side” “I thought we played the perfect couple until you didn’t want the part”).
Although lovesickness may be the theme of this album, The Cure is its star. The band’s influence is a prominent thread in all 13 of Rodrigo’s songs. “u + me = <3" is a musical response to "Just Like Heaven". while still on fire, slow-burning "what's wrong with me"—a song that could easily slide into The Cure's back catalog—Rodrigo is joined by the band's frontman, Robert Smith. (Rodrigo brought Smith out to perform alongside her at Glastonbury last year. They make a sweet duo).
Longtime followers may miss the screaming challenge of earlier tracks like “Good 4 U” or the quiet venom of “Vampire.” But on her latest album Rodrigo sheds all that remains of her Disney Channel origins. Despite the themes of love-sick psychosis and growing self-doubt You look so sad for such a loving girl, Rodrigo knows what he’s doing. With remarkable certainty, Rodrigo guides listeners into the heart of her emotional turmoil, inviting them to dwell beside her. This is her most psychologically complex album to date – and, arguably, her best.
(Further reading: Lizzo’s bitter return)
