Released on June 12, 2026, Olivia Rodrigo’s third studio album “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” gives audiences a look into Rodrigo’s new perspective on love after going through her first “big girl” relationship as she describes it. Alongside her new outlook, she also breaks the capital four letter word naming convention of her previous chart-topping albums, SOUR, and GUTS, joking in her Saturday Night Live monologue that she “Learned more words!”. The title comes straight from the mouth of her long-time producer Dan Nigro. When in the studio, those words deeply resonated with the story Rodrigo was trying to portray in the album. The 13-track record is split between the A “Girl so in love” side, and the B “You seem Pretty Sad” side.
Starting off the love story comes the first single released and her current top streaming song on Spotify “drop dead” This track denotes the beginnings of the relationship, with Rodrigo comparing her lover to “angels on the walls of Versailles” and describing her conflicting mental state of being completely enamored by someone but overcome with anxiety at the thought of furthering a relationship with them. This song really took some time to grow on me. Upon first listen, I wasn’t really a fan, but I understood it would be better when put in the overall context of the album. After listening to the whole product, I feel that the song is much better than I originally thought, although the ending bridge still hasn't grown on me, maybe I just don’t get astrology.
The following track “stupid song” follows the same sentiment of being totally consumed by her crush. The lyrics show Rodrigo struggling with her intense feelings while having no outlet strong enough to convey the depth of what she wants to say. Being the first non-single song out of the album I think it serves as a great look into the story being presented. I especially like the transition from soaring strings in the intro to a more pop rock instrumentation that has always been a favorite of mine with her music.
Pulling back on the energy next comes the track “honeybee.” At this point in the story it seems Rodrigo is finally locked in with the subject of her desires. Similar to the start of the previous song, it uses piano and strings to create a soundscape straight out of a romance movie, displaying the deep emotion and hopes she has for this relationship. Before the final bridge, the orchestral instrumentation comes to the foreground with composition that upon first listen brought tears to my eyes. Although this song may not be in my top hits of the album, it definitely will find its place in the late-night spiraling playlists of many.
In an instance of whiplash that is far from the last for this album, the tempo picks back up with the track “maggots for brains.” In a display foreshadowing the eventual collapse of the relationship, she laments the emptiness she now feels when she is not with her lover. With lines like “I'm a zombie in my body, I'm a train off of the track” you can feel the emotional and physiological connection she has come into. And “sometimes, at a low point, I even wish for a tragedy 'Cause I know hе'd come over and take rеal good care of me” points out the dangerous effect the relationship is having on her. This song has definitely come to be one of my favorites, as someone who can sometimes feel incomplete without the presence of those I care about.
Getting out of her slump, Rodrigo sings the song “u + me = <3,” laying out her undying optimism for the relationship, despite the warnings of her close friends. One thing this album does that I feel is missing in too many modern songs is including fun bridges to break up the chorus verse pattern. This track especially showing off her songwriting, describing her underlying fears of misconstruing fleeting displays of affection for strong declarations of love. Her caution to the wind attitude is exemplified with the final line of the bridge, “They say modern love's a cruel endeavor, And to that I say, "Fuck it, whatever" “
Coming into what is easily my number 2 song on the album, is “my way”. Starting off, the track features intense drums and synth leads reminiscent of early 2010s cartoon themes. The song depicts Rodrigo's response to an assumed ex being too close with her man. Many listeners draw a parallel to “Bad Idea Right?” off her previous album GUTS, with some seeing these songs as two sides of the same situation. The similarities are further shown in the abrupt cut-offs when ‘stop’ is sang in both tracks. Once again, the bridge is a standout part of this song, with her spoken verse delivery really bringing the distain for the other girl to the spotlight.
Ending off the ‘so in love’ side comes the song “purple”. This song feels very much like a song that would feature in an edit of a doomed romance movie like “La La Land” or “500 Days of Summer.” The song talks about how entwined her life is with her lover and how her entire life has changed. Even going as far as to say that their relationship has tinted the whole world in what fans will recognize as her signature color, purple. Coincidentally, this album is the first of hers to not feature purple as part of the main color palette, instead going for baby blues and pinks. Alluding to the somber turn of the song, when the line “Made our paths intersect 'til the two lines formed a circle” concludes you can hear an eerie minor chord in the vocals as the harmonies settle on the word circle. Towards the end of the song she continues the color mixing metaphor saying that their once beautiful purple has now melted and burned to an unsightly black, consuming all the color in her life. Throughout the song you can see how the man's influence has negatively impacted her in the relationship, with lines like “I had big dreams 'til I tied myself to you, Now I'm all-consumed"
Going into the ‘pretty sad’ B side, it starts with the second single released for the album “the cure.” This song depicts Rodrigo coming to the realization that a relationship won’t fix her problems like she thought it could. Similar to the first single released, I didn’t really have the best opinion on it when it first came out. However, in the few weeks since its release, even before the whole album came out, it has become one of my favorites. In one of my favorite descriptions I’ve ever heard for a song, Rodrigo says, “It’s karaokable if you’re sad.” The change of instrumentation throughout really drives the emotion home and brings a lot of variation to a song that seems unassuming at the start.
Following this, “begged” brings us back to a more somber note, bringing vocals and instrumentation reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac. This especially comes through in the latter half of the chorus, where I was immediately reminded of “Landslide” on first listen. This song depicts Rodrigo coming to the conclusion that no matter what attention she gets from her lover, as long as she's forced to beg for it there's no love behind it.
On an important note in Rodrigo’s career, the song “what’s wrong with me” features her first ever studio feature with none other than Robert Smith of “The Cure”. Rodrigo has referenced Smith as one of her greatest inspirations in music. In this track we see Rodrigo fall into a depression in the midst of the relationship, with the line “I think you’re what's wrong with me” repeated throughout as she realized the true cause of her sadness. This is the only song on the album I really had a bad reaction listening to live. Something about Robert Smith’s voice just feels off in the recording. It sounds fine in the duet section but coming into the second verse when it is just Smith, something just doesn't feel right.
Next is the track “less”, which is by far the most bare-bones song on the album, using only piano accompaniment. This is no downfall on its part however, as the song depicts her last ditch efforts of wanting to save the relationship and eventually realizing she needs to let it go, the light piano brings a very melancholic tone. It’s been noted in an interview with Popcast that the production on this song was restrained due to its late addition to the album. I, for one, think that the simplicity was exactly what the song needed, and makes the transition into the next track even better.
In one of the best feelings of musical whiplash I can think of, the piano fades out and is pushed to the wayside by the intense new-wave inspired sounds of “expectations”. In the track, Rodrigo has finally realized she needs to prioritize herself and stop settling for people not worth her time. This song is by far my favorite on the album with its upbeat 80s feel and infectious chorus. The bridge also feels very reminiscent of the outro to “Material Girl” by Madonna. In a post on TikTok, a user said, “I think I could run a marathon with no training as long as this song is playing,” and I feel like this is the only appropriate way to describe this song. This is the kind of song where upon first listen you know its going to be at the top of your listening stats.
Of course since we can’t be happy at the end of an Rodrigo album, the final track “cigarette smoke” gives one final sucker punch in the heart to say goodbye. Through the final song we hear Rodrigo lament on how difficult it is to let go of the memories she made, regardless of how she feels about him now. The chorus is absolutely tear inducing with the lines “You said that I made loving look easy, 'Til I made it hard” and “I thought that we played the perfect couple, 'Til you didn’t want the part”. This song also brings back symbols from previous songs with Oliva referring to her “honeybee” and begging for her memories to turn dark as she described earlier in “purple”
Overall, this is an incredible album and is a definite step up from her last two albums. Especially when it comes to the production and backing tracks of each song, you can tell how the instrumentation and quality has improved. Beginning in September, Rodrigo starts off “The Unraveled Tour” across the U.S and Europe. So many of these songs I am beyond excited to see how she performs them on stage and will definitely be on the lookout for a ticket for myself.
