SOUR (2021) – Olivia Rodrigo

Geffen, 2021

Miss Olivia Rodrigo delivers a carefully planned debut record full of heart-wrenching lyrics with SOUR. Less than a month old, the record already has Millennials and Gen Z’s alike raving about its relatable lyrics and emotionally painful themes. Much like her idol, Taylor Swift, Rodrigo’s songwriting paints narrative stories of distinct characters, while at the same time makes you think she wrote these songs about you. Maybe she meant what she wrote in that song about you—okay slightly forced joke, but you get what I was going for.

Through 11 tracks, we get a balanced mix of pop-punk, pop, and folk. It’s definitely not a coincidence that the pop-punk tracks, “Brutal” and “Good 4 U”, are first and sixth in the tracklist. These two tracks were carefully spread out in the album sequence. “Brutal” kicks the album off to show Rodrigo is more than “Drivers License”. “Good 4 U” is smack dab in the middle of the album so that there are four tracks between the two and five tracks after the latter. In this way, “Good 4 U” serves as a palette cleanser for the second half of the record.

“Brutal” is a great way to get the album started with its high energy and shouty vocals. The verse melody builds up at a moderate pace to this explosive hook characterized by a really simple, but exciting guitar riff. It’s a statement track to let the listener know right off the bat “I’m a fucking angsty teen and so were you. Strap in.”

“Good 4 U” was the third single released before the album came out and I initially didn’t like it much. Even now, I enjoy the hook much more than the verses. “Good 4 U” was a completely different direction from “Drivers License” and “Deja Vu” which confused me as to what sound the album would have. With the release of the full project, these three singles made complete sense in the context of the record. “Drivers License” represents the folk and ballad parts of the record, “Deja Vu” represents the Lorde-esque pop parts, and “Good 4 U” represents the pop-punk pair of tracks. While trying to find a line of best fit for the album’s sound from the three singles, we should’ve actually taken them as three distinct pieces that don’t correlate sonically, but rather head the three sections of the album.

Olivia Rodrigo has never shied away from her idolization of Taylor Swift, and it’s as evident as it can be on “Traitor” and “Enough For You”. On these two tracks, Rodrigo is doing her best Taylor Swift impression. These two tracks sound exactly like Taylor Swift songs. “Traitor” could’ve fooled me for a track off Lover and “Enough For You” is very derivative of a classic Taylor Swift acoustic album cut. “Traitor” features narrative lyrics that detail a cheating lover and their betrayal of the relationship. Narrative songwriting isn’t exclusive to Taylor Swift, but with the connection Rodrigo has to Swift, it’s extremely hard not to see it as imitation. “Traitor” and “Enough For You” aren’t my favourite tracks off the record and being almost carbon copies of another artist’s music doesn’t help, but I do have to give kudos to those beautiful vocal harmonies layered together near the end of “Traitor”. You can probably tell which of the two I like more.

Continuing with the Taylor Swift trend, “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back” interpolates “New Year’s Day” off of Reputation. This track that on record takes from Taylor Swift is actually quite good. This stripped back piano ballad is very pretty and light. It’s simple in a way that it’s not cluttered, but also isn’t bland. The production on “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back” really highlights Rodrigo’s vocals, especially in the ending.

The biggest miss on the record for me has to be “Happier”. I’ve just heard this song so many times before. Wanting the best for an ex, but not better. Hoping they’re happy with their new boo, but not as happy as they were with you. It’s a song we’ve heard from all our favourite pop artists. Think of your Lewis Capaldi’s and Sam Smith’s. It nails the trope down to a T. It even has the classic pop 1-3-5-8-5-3 arpeggio. Sure, it’s a relatable song that will make us all think about that one ex (I might even be wincing at a certain memory as I write this), but it’s the least inventive song on the album and nothing about it makes me want to listen to it over any of the other hundred pop songs of this trope.

“Jealousy, Jealousy”, “Favorite Crime”, and “Hope Ur OK” is a great three track sequence to end the album. The first of the three is a keen commentary on the negativity of social media—something very pertinent for this day and age, especially for Gen Z’s. Here we have a nice momentary step away from the prominent theme of heartbreak. “Favorite Crime” is probably my favourite (secret’s out—I’m Canadian) song off the record. It’s a well written song about being treated poorly in a relationship, wrapped in a clever metaphor. The acoustic guitar setting the platform for the layered vocals and vocal harmonies is simply magical. This is the most distinct track for Rodrigo. A folk song with great songwriting that highlights her impressive vocals. “Hope Ur OK” is an anthem of hope and encouragement that boasts some subtly grand production. The distant but booming bass drum is a nice touch to add a little grandiose to the track. All this makes for a nice and positive closer to the record, but not before a cheeky nod to the piano “car door noise” (I’ll call it) from “Drivers License”.

Through the highs and lows of SOUR, one thing stands out to me above anything else. SOUR is a very safe and meticulously created album. Olivia Rodrigo doesn’t stray far from what she knows best—teen angst and heartbreak. She sticks to her guns and hones in on two themes that she is familiar with. One that everyone can relate to, if not both. In all fairness, a diversity in themes is probably too much to ask for an 18-year old pop artist’s debut studio album. Beyond the themes, the album sequencing is very neat and certain established pop tropes are hit.

This tidiness and order creates a packaging that is unfortunately very synthetic and sterile. For all the record’s relatability and familiarity, it lacks spontaneity and ingenuity. Even the borrowings from Taylor Swift come across as imitation rather than inspiration. It’s very hard not to look at sections of SOUR as derivative.
All this being said, this record is a fantastic introduction to Olivia Rodrigo and a pretty good record in its own right. People who haven’t heard of her before now know she’s a talented vocalist with a serious talent for songwriting who’s heavily influenced by Taylor Swift. There have been much worse debut studio albums and there’s definitely potential for a world class popstar here. I just hope that Rodrigo builds upon SOUR and develops her own unique sound. I’m excited to see what the Olivia Rodrigo original sound will be and what it has to offer.

Favourite tracks: Brutal; Drivers License; 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back; Good 4 U; Favorite Crime; Hope Ur OK