Sweet and SOUR

 

Rarely has a new artist sparked such a whirlwind from the get-go as Olivia Rodrigo has. Ever since her debut single, “drivers license”, literally took over the charts earlier this year, people unfamiliar with her Disney Channel past got to discover a budding pop superstar with obvious talent and a raw honesty that is eminently refreshing. A couple other singles later, only one of which didn’t go to number #1, and her debut album, SOUR, is now finally in our hands. As it got released less than a week ago, we still don’t know how it will fare on Billboard but, for our money, there is little doubt that it will very much confirm the early success of her singles…

The anticipation for this album, once again coming from a singer who just turned 18 and was largely unknown from mainstream audiences before 2021, is quite unheard of. This has got a lot to do with a key element mentioned above: the singularity of Rodrigo’s creative approach. Over the years/decades, we have been accustomed to seeing teen pop stars explode every couple of year, especially of the Disney Channel variety (think Britney, Taylor, Miley, Demi…), but they usually have in common something this one lacks: a marketing and production team that comes up with a highly sophisticated, if sanitized, packaging. This typically entails evocative artwork, but not too much, stories of teen love, but without the lust, basically a version of youthful angst that is acceptable for children and parents alike.

Meanwhile, Olivia Rodrigo manages to bring an authenticity to her songs, from her often brutally honest lyrics to the rather minimalistic production approach, that hasn’t been heard from such a young artist in quite a while. “Drivers license”, the song that propelled her budding career, is a prime example of that: all it really features is a piano and a couple of beats — that and a voice that seamlessly switches from near whispering to full on Mariah-grade harmonies. Many of the songs on the album follow this formula, including the elegant “1 step forward, 3 steps back” and the very touching “hope ur ok” that closes the set: we are being presented with delicately produced, highly melodic and profoundly engaging pieces of pop/folk material that Taylor Swift (who’s “New Year’s Day” provides the basis to “1 step forward, 3 steps back”) could and should envy.

Interestingly, Rodrigo and her producer Daniel Nigro also do not hesitate to incorporate heavier sounds — when the subject matter requires it. Such is the case with current chart topper “good 4 u”, featuring an energetic guitar instrumentation that may remind (older) listeners a young Avril Lavigne. That’s a compliment. Same goes with album opener “brutal”, whose title is very fitting and whose riff is a clear nod to the punk icons of yore. Think Iggy Pop with a ponytail. Also a compliment, in case your were wondering…

All in all, these songs appear to be a rather faithful depiction of the artist’s mindset as she slowly but surely enters adulthood: raw, layered and, above all, beautifully expressed. One could make the connection with a young Jewel, whose seminal debut album sparked a bona fide resurgence of minimalistic pop/folk back in the mid-90’s. Let us wish Rodrigo the very same success…