Olivia Rodrigo Debuts with “Sour”

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Idoreyin Eyobio

Junior Jonathan Gomez jams out to “SOUR” because he loves the album.

Hailed as Gen Z’s Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo released her debut pop album, “SOUR” to much acclaim. Drawing inspiration from Alanis Morissette and Kacey Musgraves, this record is almost pop perfection. Riddled with teenage angst, insecurities, and most importantly, heartbreak, it’s difficult not to relate to her lyrics.

If you enjoy cohesive pop albums with an overarching theme, there’s a good chance you’ll like “SOUR” and I recommend it for that reason.

“SOUR” is like a teenage girl’s diary, her lyrics read like an open book. Rodrigo conveys her story of heartbreak like she’s seventeen and no one understands.
This album interpolates an array of songs; for instance, “good 4 u” is reminiscent of early 2000s pop-punk. A song that really comes to mind is Paramore’s “Misery Business.”

I’m not the only one who thinks this way too. On Aug. 25, Paramore received songwriting credits similar to how Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift, St. Vincent did on July 9. As an infrequent fan of bands such as Fall Out Boy and Descendants, it’s not surprising that I enjoyed “good 4 u.”Maybe I’m biased because I’m a Swiftie on the down-low, but songs like “deja vu” and “1 step forward, 3 steps back” (which samples Antonoff and Swift’s hit New Year’s Day) were my favorites partially because of the production.

While Rodrigo uses songs from the past to her advantage, there are some cases where it’s detrimental. I can’t fault her for that because it genuinely feels like she’s pouring her heart out, when she speaks of her insecurities in “traitor,” “enough for you,” “brutal” and others. It shows that even with fame and success, you’ll still be faced with insecurities.

Rodrigo is clearly skilled at what she does and that’s why I give it four and half stars.