With a certain crushing inevitability, the arrival of Olivia Rodrigo\u2019s third album has been accompanied by a lot of frenzied decoding of its lyrics for references to Louis Partridge, the British actor whose relationship with the singer ended late last year. One magazine ran a 1,200 word essay, complete with annotations, panning its songs for nuggets of gossip: the fourth piece they\u2019ve published on the subject in recent months. A British broadsheet plumped for a news story about the fact that Rodrigo had apparently changed the lyrics of a track called Purple, formerly a \u201cvery sweet and saccharine\u201d love song, to reflect the end of their relationship. Over in New Delhi, The Hindustan Times was pondering rumours that the couple had actually got back together: \u201cInterest in Partridge has grown after Rodrigo released her new album since fans believe the track Stupid Song has references to the singer\u2019s relationship with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The artwork for You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. Photograph: Geffen Records\/AP<\/p>\n
Well, of course it has: for better or for worse, that kind of speculation seems to have become a major part of modern pop, and Oliva Rodrigo in particular has long been a beneficiary of the clickbait publicity it brings. Her breakthrough single Drivers Licence gained traction thanks to the rumour that its lyrics were about her former boyfriend Joshua Bassett\u2019s dalliance with Sabrina Carpenter; Vampire, the lead single from 2023\u2019s Guts<\/a> invited yet more speculation about whether its subject was another ex or Taylor Swift. Indeed, she actively seems to encourage it: \u201cI never talk about my personal life in interviews or in any public forum, so I guess the music is where people go to deduce things,\u201d she recently told an interviewer, a line that seems to have a distinct hint of \u201cgo ahead, fill your boots\u201d about it.<\/p>\n Under the circumstances, it\u2019s perhaps worth noting that the real identity of the subject of You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love \u2013 a song-cycle that follows a relationship from the first blush of romance to some fabulously bitter post-break-up recriminations \u2013 might be the least interesting thing about it. Parsing the songs for clues seems besides the point: it\u2019s a spectacularly accomplished pop album whoever it is about.<\/p>\n It represents a distinct and confident pivot away from the sound of Guts \u2013 only My Way, on which an ex-girlfriend incurs Rodrigo\u2019s displeasure by declining to bugger off, leans towards the gleefully bratty pop-punk of its predecessor \u2013 replacing it with a take on 80s new wave in which you can variously detect hints of the B-52s, New Order and Devo.<\/p>\n The influence of the Cure figures heavily: a bold move, given the baffled expressions of young fans in the front row when Robert Smith ambled on stage during her Glastonbury headlining set. Smith reappears here, duetting with Rodrigo on What\u2019s Wrong With Me? \u2013 his perennially racked voice blends remarkably well with hers \u2013 but his presence is felt everywhere, from the lyrical reference to Just Like Heaven in opener Drop Dead, to a song literally called The Cure (Rodrigo has insisted the title isn\u2019t related to the band, but the typeface in which it\u2019s written in the song\u2019s video looks remarkably like their late 80s logo), to Maggots for Brains and U + Me = <3, which \u2013 with their flanged basslines and breezy acoustic guitars \u2013 are very clearly loving homages to Smith and co in pop mode.<\/p>\n Mutual fanclub \u2026 Rodrigo and Robert Smith on stage at Glastonbury in 2025. Photograph: Samir Hussein\/WireImage<\/p>\n More importantly, from the show tune-like melody of Stupid Song to the affecting emotional shapeshifting of Purple \u2013 which starts out lovestruck and gradually grows more anxious \u2013 the songs are uniformly well written. The tunes cling, fantastic choruses arrive in profusion, and, moreover, the lyrics are substantially more nuanced and thoughtful than the screw-you recriminations that made Rodrigo famous.<\/p>\n The moment you realise a relationship is doomed but doggedly refuse to act on it is drawn with queasy relatability on Begged; Less depicts said relationship in slow but inexorable decline, packed with wince-inducing recollections: \u201cWe tried to recreate our favourite date, but we didn\u2019t laugh much this time.\u201d She\u2019s also exceptionally funny, particularly when letting rip post-breakup. \u201cI met him at a party, I think he was on drugs \/ He wasn\u2019t smart or funny, I convinced myself he was,\u201d opens Expectations, before throwing in another barbed, eye-rolling detail: \u201cHe had a great apartment and a car his parents bought.\u201d<\/p>\n