SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo // 5 Year Anniversary Album Review
Olivia Rodrigo's debut album is such a distinct and realistic depiction of all the sweet and sour parts of what it means to be a young woman growing up and coming of age in the modern world. What was initially meant to be just an EP quickly transformed into a full-length project after the massive success of her debut single "drivers license" surpassed everyone's expectations in early 2021. Olivia and her core collaborator on this project - and on all of her music thus far - Dan Nigro, put this album together in just a few months. While she would go on to further develop her sound and find herself musically throughout the creation of subsequent releases, this stands as one of the defining debut albums of this generation of pop music.
Olivia has always worn both her influences and her heart on her sleeve, and SOUR feels like a natural extension of that. Each song is deeply personal, yet clearly shaped by the music that raised her. Much of SOUR feels like modern, updated versions of the great contemporary artists she grew up listening to, all translated into something that reflects her own experiences now. It's also very obvious who her earliest touchstones in music were. She now follows in the footsteps of some of the greats before her, artists like Taylor Swift, Lorde, Hayley Williams, and Avril Lavigne being a few notable artists that greatly helped shape her songwriting instincts and artistic aesthetics at this point in her career. As she would go on to expand her sound more, these remain the core influences that define the earliest phase of her artistry and echo throughout the entirety of SOUR.
SOUR is shaped sonically, culturally and emotionally by the trifecta of groundbreaking debut singles that will absolutely go down in pop music history. It all really began with her debut single, "drivers license", which stands as the perfect depiction of teenage love and first heartbreak. She captures all of the ways in which it can feel so monumental and all-consuming in the moment, like it's the end of the world, only to look back one day and realize that this too shall pass. She is able to put those feelings into words in such a clear and personal way, while still allowing everyone else to see a bit of themselves within it.
"I got my driver's license last week, just like we always talked about, 'cause you were so excited for me to finally drive up to your house," she sings in the iconic opening lines of the song. "But today, I drove through the suburbs, crying 'cause you weren't around".
At the center of this album are the lessons learned from this time in her life; especially with her ex moving on with someone new soon after, and all of the complicated feelings Olivia was left to sort through in the aftermath. This storyline sits at the heart of so much of this music: the insecurities, jealousy, self‑comparison, and personal reckoning she was confronting within herself as those conflicting feelings continued to linger.
"When I came up with 'drivers license', I was going through a heartbreak that was so confusing to me, so multifaceted," Olivia said in an interview with ET Canada. "Putting all those feelings into a song made everything seem so much simpler and clearer - and at the end of the day, I think that's really the whole purpose of songwriting. There's nothing like sitting at the piano in my bedroom and writing a really sad song. It's truly my favorite thing in the world."
Olivia portrays the emotional whirlwind so perfectly; the Lorde-influenced harmonies paired with the deeply diaristic storytelling in the bridge - which were crafted straight from the Taylor Swift school of songwriting - cement it as the most defining moment of her early career.
This song in particular also indirectly marked the birth of not one, but two incredible pop artists - the aforementioned "blonde girl" that inspired this song has obviously gone on to build a massive career of her own in the years to follow, at least partly due to the attention brought by "drivers license" and the infamous "love triangle". While much of the conversation surrounding it became overly dramatized, misogynistic and largely blown out of proportion, it did ultimately give us two of the most exciting voices in pop music today, so at least something good came from it all!
"drivers license" resonated so widely with listeners and garnered over 76.1 million first-week streams in the US alone, the most ever for a debut single by a female artist. It went on to also spend eight weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first debut single, and only the seventh song in history, to do so. This was a massive cultural moment and one of the biggest songs released in 2021, and no matter where Olivia takes her music in the years to come, this song will undoubtedly continue to follow her.
At that point in her career, she absolutely could have become another flash‑in‑the‑pan artist, the kind who goes viral on TikTok with one big song and then fades from public view because the hype more often than not tends to outweigh the talent or potential for longevity. Luckily, Olivia was far from that. She proved she was here to stay with her second single, "deja vu", which served as a pivotal stepping stone coming off of "drivers license" and offered a glimpse into the immense talent she would go on to develop in the years to come.
As the second single off of SOUR, "deja vu" solidified her as one of the defining voices of a new generation in pop music and was a clear sign she was far from a one‑hit wonder. It felt like a natural progression for her as an artist, still carrying themes of yearning and nostalgia for a past relationship. Through vivid, specific lyrics, she captures the bittersweet frustration of watching an ex recreate shared moments with someone new.
"Do you call her, almost say my name? 'Cause let's be honest, we kinda do sound the same, another actress, I hate to think that I was just your type," she sings in the second verse. "And I bet that she knows Billy Joel, 'cause you played her 'Uptown Girl', you're singin' it together, now I bet you even tell her how you love her in between the chorus and the verse". With this song, Olivia also introduced a more expansive and textured sound, signaling the evolution and growth that would shape the rest of the album and all of her future releases.
"good 4 u" followed as the third single in the lead-up to the album's full release, and continues to stand out as one of the biggest and most recognizable hits of her career thus far. The teen angst mixed with the pristine pop punk production is such an electric part of this album. In hindsight, it also feels like an early precursor to the direction she would lean into more heavily on GUTS, which was largely driven by more of that energy paired with sharp, cathartic lyricism.
The edge and attitude she tapped into on this song is the result of the clear echoes of artists like Paramore and Avril Lavigne, and even the spirit of some of Taylor Swift's work in her early career. While the Paramore and Taylor comparisons have been discussed to exhaustion at this point, and also often unfairly sparking unnecessary discourse about influence vs. interpolation during the SOUR album cycle, "good 4 u" does feel like an evolved 2020's evolution of their lineage; serving as a modern counterpart to songs like "Misery Business" and "Better Than Revenge" in many ways, even channeling a bit of Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" at times, all filtered through Olivia's own distinct perspective.
The song continues to take on the emotional chaos of watching her ex move on with someone new, as much of SOUR does. "good 4 u" captures the kind of spiraling and obsessive reeling that also feels cathartic at the same time. She fixates on every tiny detail she's noticed from afar and all of the ways he seems completely unaffected by their breakup, turning it into a rant that is so sharply written and petty in all the best ways. "It's like we never even happened baby, what the fuck is up with that?" she sings in the second verse. "And good for you, it's like you never even met me, remember when you swore to God I was the only person who ever got you? Well, screw that, and screw you, you will never have to hurt the way you know that I do".
"Four days after 'drivers license' came out, Olivia called me and said she wanted to turn the EP into an album. 2 days later she started sending loads and loads of new voice memos with songs and ideas, I drove around for hours listening to everything and I kept coming back to this idea. We finished it the next day..." her producer and co-writer Dan Nigro wrote on Instagram alongside the song's release.
Everything builds up the explosive bridge, which is as cutting as it is self aware all at once. "Maybe I'm too emotional, but your apathy's like a wound in salt, maybe I'm too emotional or maybe you never cared at all," she sings.
The list of accolades and records she broke with these three back‑to‑back hits upon release would be too long to list here, but most notably, Olivia became the first artist in history to debut her first three singles in the Billboard Hot 100's Top 10, with all three eventually occupying the top three spots simultaneously. It was a career‑making moment that officially introduced her as one of the most influential new voices in pop music.
SOUR begins with the electric opening track, "brutal", which immediately introduces the quintessential themes of teen angst and frustrations with the world around her. Before the music even begins, she opens with the words, "I want it to be, like, messy", which is the perfect encapsulation of what Olivia represents for this new era of pop music and such an apt way to introduce the album. Olivia fully lives in the imperfections and vulnerabilities of her music and her performances, never shying away from showing her full self.
The opening verse of the song is among the best she has ever written. Holding nothing back, she begins with a string of sarcastic, self‑aware confessions: "I'm so insecure, I think that I'll die before I drink and I'm so caught up in the news of who likes me and who hates you and I'm so tired that I might, quit my job, start a new life and they'd all be so disappointed, 'cause who am I if not exploited?"
"brutal" is ultimately about being fed up with all of the intricacies of being a teenager and being too in her own head about all of the reasons why she isn't enjoying this time of her life more when everyone tells her she should be. "And I'm so sick of seventeen, where's my fucking teenage dream? If someone tells me one more time 'Enjoy your youth,' I'm gonna cry," she continues.
Starting her debut album with the question "Where's my fucking teenage dream?" in the first verse is iconic and another signal that she isn't following in the footsteps of her teen‑pop predecessors, but instead intentionally choosing to take another route. That line in particular sets the tone for the rest of the record, with the same sharp wit and attitude carrying through into much of her sophomore album GUTS, especially on songs like "bad idea, right?" and the opening "all-american bitch".
"They say these are the golden years, but I wish I could disappear, ego crush is so severe," she sings in the chorus, building into the punchline of it all, "God, it's brutal out here". It's sarcastic and self-deprecating, allowing her humor to come through at the forefront - which is where she tends to shine the most as a songwriter and performer. When she taps into that side of artistry, it always brings such a fresh and interesting edge to her sound. This song especially gives such a clear glimpse into the mind of a seventeen year old and the parts we're often taught to hide or tone down as young women, but she fully basks in the angst and attitude of it all. It's also just so straight and to the point as well, because it really is brutal out here!
The success and influence that this album brought leaves very little room for comparison in terms of the life of its own it took on. The only other modern artist who came out of the gate with a debut as influential as SOUR would be Billie Eilish, in the way they were/are both seen as young ingénues who each released an album that was iconic and culturally defining in their own right, shaping the sound of so much of the music that followed. Olivia and Billie really do represent two sides of the same coin in a lot of ways, especially in how they have simultaneously shaped and reconstructed pop music since their respective debuts around the same time. We'll likely never see a phenomenon quite as big as either of them again, let alone two in such quick succession. Ultimately, you can't manufacture authenticity, no matter how much some may try, which is why they stand as two of the defining artists of this generation, each building an impactful legacy in just a few short years by never trying to be anyone but themselves.
Apart from a few songs, like the opening track and "good 4 u", SOUR is a very ballad-heavy album. While at times repetitive in that regard, these slower moments allow her raw talent and growing potential for deeply diaristic, personal storytelling to come through the strongest.
"1 step forward, 3 steps back" is one of the most notable examples in the first half of the record. Taylor Swift allowed Olivia to interpolate the opening piano notes of her song "New Year's Day" on the track, marking the first time she has ever allowed another artist to use her work in that way. Throughout the entirety of SOUR, Taylor comes through as a massive influence throughout, with Fearless, Speak Now and Red in particular sounding like significant points of reference for Olivia during the creation of this album. She was also right around the same age as Olivia when making those records, so many of the same growing pains of young adulthood feel paralleled. In a lot of ways, SOUR feels like Olivia's own version of Red - although it is very much possible that she has an even more definitive, decade-defining heartbreak album still in her - but with what we have now, SOUR is best likened to Red in that sense.
The comparisons between these two albums run even deeper, too. Taylor even gifted Olivia a version of the signature "love" ring that she also wore during the making of Red - the same one that she also recreated for the Taylor's Version album cover that same year. At this point, Olivia was closely tied to Taylor in many ways, at least in terms of how she was marketed early on, but those ties were soon quietly severed in terms of public association. The reasons and implications have been widely speculated for years, which is a shame all things considered. However, to avoid being exclusively compared to Taylor for the rest of her career, it was ultimately best for Olivia to intentionally step out of that shadow.
Taylor - along with collaborators Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent - also retroactively received songwriting credits on "deja vu" for the alleged resemblance its bridge had to "Cruel Summer", though that never felt particularly necessary. That was the second time during the SOUR album cycle that credits had to be added, as Hayley Williams and Josh Farro of Paramore received co‑writer credits on "good 4 u" due to perceived similarities and a supposed uncredited interpolation of "Misery Business". Very little is publicly known about either situation and much of this is just speculative, but the latter seemed like an exploitative opportunity taken by one of the parties involved, while what happened with "deja vu" was likely more preventative and done as a way to avoid any further issues. But again, Olivia herself declared it on the opening verse of this album: "Who am I if not exploited?"
Despite everything that came after, Taylor does ultimately remain the clearest and most prominent inspiration throughout much of SOUR. In recent years, there has been a new wave of female singer‑songwriters who have been very publicly and unabashedly influenced by her, but it's hard to find another artist who has followed in her footsteps as naturally as Olivia has in the past five years. She is a reinterpretation of the best aspects of Taylor's songwriting - especially the deep specificity and her ability to let a piece of her heart live within each song - and she turns those qualities into something undeniably diaristic and personal, while still capturing the universal aspects of every situation in a way that connects to every listener's life. Again, while the comparisons between Olivia and Taylor are overdone and tired by this point, there is no denying the ways in which they both share an innate talent for amplifying the voices and inner thoughts of so many young women through their songwriting.
As much as this album is about a breakup and her complicated feelings surrounding what happened, and also as much as the media at the time diluted any of the actual meaning - in actuality, SOUR is all largely rooted in Olivia's own feelings, doubts, and insecurities. These are the things she carries through her life and her relationships, and they form the emotional core of SOUR far more than any overblown internet drama ever could.
"All I ever wanted was to be enough for you," she sings on the album's seventh track, which is a sentiment that threads through so much of her work afterward. The longing to be enough for someone else and to not disappoint them, even at the sacrifice of your own feelings at times, continues to be one of the defining emotional throughlines of her songwriting. The period of her life that this music stems from, as she goes through the motions of her first real heartbreak, shines through as the focal point of songs like "traitor", which is another rumination on why her ex was able to move on so quickly. It tackles the same emotions that make up "good 4 u" too, but with a much more quiet sense of introspection rather than feelings of explosive rage.
Eventually in the progression of the album's storyline, she does reach an emotional midpoint with "happier", where she ultimately wishes her ex well, but maybe not the best. "I hope you're happy, but don't be happier" is the defining lyric of that song and the first time she allows herself to look back on the relationship with some semblance of fondness, even though that sense of hurt and jealousy is still present.
"favorite crime" stands out as the best tracks on the album, which is built on some of her strongest and most evocative storytelling. The clever lyricism leans into a sort of Bonnie and Clyde dynamic - two accomplices bound together through everything - only for her to realize, in hindsight, that she was the one giving everything while he gave nothing in return. All that's left now is the reckoning with the ache of the uneven devotion and what she's left with in the aftermath. The stunning harmonies and vocal production add a softness that underlines the entire track, contrasting beautifully with the heavy emotional reckoning at its core. The bridge is also one of the strongest on the album, reframing the entire song in a way that feels definitive of the heartbreak that shapes the ethos of SOUR.
"jealousy, jealousy" feels like one of the brightest and most underrated gems on all of SOUR. It is such a powerful and clear look into the mind of a young woman coming of age in the modern world. She depicts the universal female experience with such precision and honesty, especially in the age of social media and the constant trials and tribulations of trying to find your place in the world amidst societal pressures and personal pitfalls. This perspective is something that Olivia has always depicted in such an exceedingly relatable and self-aware way. She writes from a place of striking honesty and transparency that is so refreshing to see coming from an artist of her stature and influence. It also brings a sort of grungy 90's edge to the album, showing the range of influences she pulled from throughout the creation of SOUR and adding another layer to its sonic landscape.
It captures that feeling of being completely wrapped up in what everyone else is doing and never feeling like enough in comparison to people you don't even know, and never will know, who you only ever see through a phone screen. That sense of never being cool enough, pretty enough, or accomplished enough builds until the jealousy consumes you, leaving you lost in your own mind about the toxicity of it all. It's such a universal experience, something almost every young woman goes through at some point, especially when we're exposed to so many people online every single day. "Their win is not my loss, I know it's true. but I can't help gettin' caught up in it all," perfectly captures the entire spiral depicted in the song. This is a theme she has continued to explore throughout the rest of her work, and so much comes from the foundation of "jealousy, jealousy".
The beautiful "hope ur ok" closes the album, which is such a sweet and sincere message to close this chapter with. She sings about growing up and falling out of touch with a childhood friend who may have been stuck in a difficult situation in life. It's chilling in its simplicity and so deeply moving, as everyone probably can think of at least one friend that they have drifted from over the years but will still always wish the best for. The song taps into these universal feelings with such precision, offering a message that feels comforting no matter what side of the story you resonate with the most. This song finds Olivia looking back on their friendship and hoping they were able to make it out of the painful place they were in at the time and able to find real happiness.
"His parents cared more about the Bible, than being good to their own child," she sings. "And somehow, we fell out of touch, hope he took his bad deal and made a royal flush, don't know if I'll see you again someday, but if you're out there, I hope that you're okay".
There is an innate connection with this song to "The Story", which similarly closed out Conan Gray's debut album Kid Krow the year prior. The parallels between Olivia and Conan's music are not talked about nearly enough, with their work often sharing some of the most striking emotional and structural similarities - especially through some of their earliest releases. Given that they're close friends and share a core collaborator in Dan Nigro, who produced and co-wrote both projects, it makes perfect sense that their albums do feel so linked. The similarities to Kid Krow and SOUR can be narrowed down track-by-track at times, drawing comparisons to the pacing and emotional architecture of each record.
Kid Krow also was one of the first full-length albums Dan produced for another artist up to that point, and it opened the door for so much of the incredible work that would follow into the years that followed. In many ways these albums feel like companion pieces and very realistic coming of age depictions of two artists finding their voice.
"Her parents hated who she loved, she couldn't wait to go to college, she was tired 'cause she was brought into a world where family was merely blood," Olivia sings in the second verse. "Does she know how proud I am she was created with the courage to unlearn all of their hatred? We don't talk much, but I just gotta say, I miss you and I hope that you're okay".
Tonally, "hope ur ok" carries a very distinct softness that feels reminiscent of some of Phoebe Bridgers' work, with "Garden Song" in particular coming to mind. At the same time, there is also a clear interpretation of Lorde's influence on the track again, particularly with the emotional build up to the bridge, much in the same way "drivers license" does as well.
It is such a stunning and powerful note to end the album on. The sincerity of which Olivia writes - and capturing the courage it can take to unlearn what you were taught from a young age and overcome so much - is so special. "hope ur ok" is a beautiful reminder that its possible to rise above the circumstances you were born into and that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. It holds out a hope for a better life around the corner and the freedom of choosing your own reality.
With SOUR, Olivia introduced herself as one of the defining voices for a new generation of young women and girls, articulating the angst, confusion and growing pains of adolescence and young adulthood in a world that can feel unbearably complicated at times. This is an album rooted in heartbreak, but even more so self-discovery - as she captures the complexities of growing up in the most diaristic sense. Olivia entered the music industry with full force, unafraid of being introspective, emotional and messy all at the same time as she figured out who she was becoming.
Thanks for reading! I have written about Olivia Rodrigo's music countless times in the past - all of which are linked here and below. Check out my review of GUTS, along with a ranking of all the songs by Olivia featured in the Spotify Billions Club - many more coming soon, always! 💜
Photo Credit: Interscope Records, Olivia Rodrigo
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Olivia Rodrigo's Highest Streamed Songs: Ranked // Spotify Billions Club
"deja vu" by Olivia Rodrigo // Song Review
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