Is there anything left to say about Olivia Rodrigo in 2026?
Probably not. The internet has broken down every single word of her lyrics, debated who her songs are about, and tracked her relationship timelines in real time. But at This Is Not Happening, we want our say, too, when a pop savant raises the bar this high, you have to talk about it.
Personally, I’ve been hooked for years, a fact that has become a joke with my 15 year-old daughters friendship group. ‘Drivers License” is genuinely one of my absolute favorite songs ever written, a perfect encapsulation of teenage suburban heartbreak. But it was actually “deja vu” that acted as my gateway drug. The witty, sharp, acerbic lyrics were matched only by the melodic brilliance.
For a quick primer if you’ve been living under a rock, or more likely, you’ve pretended to be too cool to care: Olivia Rodrigo exploded into the industry as a three-time Grammy winner, shifting the entire expectations of mainstream music with her multi-platinum records SOUR and GUTS. She took the raw vulnerability of modern teen life and smashed it into 90s alternative rock and pop-punk sensibilities. She’s completely rewritten and is continuing to rewrite the playbook for global pop superstardom. She. Is. A. Force.
Before this new record dropped on June 12, she teased us with two brilliant singles that gave us hints about where she was heading:
- Drop Dead (Released April 17): A shimmery, infectious synth-pop track, an intentional homage to classic new wave, and more specifically The Cure. “You know all the words to ‘Just Like Heaven’ / And I know why he wrote them now that you’re standing right here.” As we’ve come to expext it’s smart, it’s sharp, its bold and it’s catchy AF.
- The Cure (Released May 22): A slow-to-loud alternative anthem built around massive, driving guitars … and a very literal 2nd reference to the band The Cure … but listen again. There are 2 other references to alternative pop rock that I think have been missed by others – The Introduction and verse 1 owes a massive debt to ‘Everlong’ by the Foo Fighters and there are motifs in the bridge and chorus that are massively reminiscent of ‘Disarm’ by Smashing Pumpkins. I think the former is more obvious but the latter is definitely there fore me. This track is a magnificent example of Olvia’s ability to magpie ideas from less obvious places and weave them into her pop magic.
The album itself, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, is a masterfully executed 13-track ‘concept record’. It functions as a classic vinyl album of two halves. The first part, “Girl So In Love,” tracks the intoxicating, all-consuming rush of a relationship. The second half, “You Seem Pretty Sad,” documents the slow, painful unraveling and the bitter recriminations that follow when the illusion shatters.
But if it is an album of two halves … then there is a track in the middle that you can’t tell if it belongs on Side A or Side B – that track is Purple. Credit where’s it’d due – the brilliant Switched on Pop has a theory about this. Side A is the ‘Red Side’ – A Girl So In Love, red is the colour of love and Romance. Side B is the ‘Blue Side’ – You Seem Pretty Sad, blue is the colour of sadness. The song in the middle is ‘Purple’ which is created from mixing Red and Blue. Mind. Blown.
Side A: Girl So In Love
1. “drop dead” The opener, the lead single, the absolute masterclass in ’80s new wave inspired pop. It sets the scene with shimmering, glossy synths and a bouncy beat that hides the underlying obsession of stalking someone online.
2. “stupid song” My daughters favourite. It’s got this incredible, glossy precision, it’s perfect punchy pop-rock. And. it’s Olivia so it’s also super intelligence self referential song-writing all about that exact moment you realize you’re writing cliché love songs about someone.
3. “honeybee” A massive highlight here that I think has been overlooked somewhat? Olivia brings in her real-life best friend Conan Gray for some gorgeous backing vocals. It’s an acoustic, warm indie-pop track about pure optimism and hoping a relationship lasts forever.
4. “maggots for brains” The title says it all, after the sweetness of Honeybee, things start to change. The guitars get a bit fuzzier here, leaning into a more playful … so playful I can hear Avril Lavigne-esque pop-punk energy? It’s an affectionate but witty roast of a partner’s lovable flaws.
5. “u + me = <3” A brilliant nod to early 2000s minimalist pop. Think Britney-level vocal confidence layered over a robotic, Gary Numan-style synth beat. It’s hyper-confident in every way and perhaps even slightly self mocking?
6. “my way” Is this the turning point on Side A? The track captures the moment where you realize you’re changing ‘you’ to fit into someone else’s world. The music is smooth, but the lyrics are quietly tense. I think it’s easy to overlook this tracks brilliance.
7. “purple” The closer of the first half .. or the opener of the 2nd half? Given the next track is ‘The Cure’ its probably the former. It’s a lush, dream-pop track heavily influenced by British shoegaze?
Side B: You Seem Pretty Sad
8. “the cure” The transition is jarring in the best way possible. It starts with a heavy, driving guitar riff that pays direct homage to Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” before exploding into massive, Mellon Collie-era Smashing Pumpkins strings. A towering alternative rock anthem about realizing love can’t fix your personal baggage.
9. “begged” First debuted on SNL, this one is raw and angry. The pop-punk spark is back, but it’s darker this time. It’s a heavy, aggressive track about the absolute humiliation of having to beg someone to treat you right. It’s the grown up version of the pop-punk influences we heard on her debut?
10. “what’s wrong with me” (feat. Robert Smith) I could not believe it when I realised this was Robert Smith. I literally laughed out loud. It’s such a flex. A flex that would not have flexed if the track was not as brilliant as it is. I never knew I was missing this from my life!
11. “less” Olivia strips it all back and returns to the piano alone. It’s a devastating, intimate ballad in the vein of Phoebe Bridgers. The killer line says it all: “If loving me means letting go and wishing me the best / Then I guess I wish, I wish, I wish you loved me less.” Ouch. This song proves her songwriting chops. Piano ballads are 10 a penny, how many hit this hard on first listen? Literally none.
12. “expectations” One for Guy. Synth Pop to the max. An oh my god is it pop. It’s so infectious.
13. “cigarette smoke” The 5-minute epic closer. It delivers (in my humble opinion) the strongest vocal performance of the album (her career?). We get a swelling, cinematic indie-rock backdrop. It closes the book on the album (and the relationship?) with a brutal, parting-shot one-liner: “I thought that we played the perfect couple / Until you didn’t want the part.” Who has the right to be that good a song writer this early in their career”?
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