Olivia Rodrigo beat the odds back in 2021. With her utterly explosive, record-breaking debut Sour, this ex-Disney starlet burst onto the pop scene and became the voice of the pandemic generation. Sour summarises the teenage experience across eleven bombastic tracks, and five years on, it’s just as thrilling of a collection. For the album’s anniversary, we’re throwing it back to Olivia’s impressive first era as a main pop girl.
Originally imagined as an EP, Sour came to life as a full-length album after the indescribable and unprecedented success of Olivia’s debut single ‘driver’s license’. Kicking the year off strong releasing on January 8th, the song quickly developed a mythos regarding its rumoured love triangle subject matter. But what really blew the track up was its unique, powerful sound. Beginning as a minimalist piano ballad, ‘driver’s license’ rapidly develops into a dramatic indie and synth pop finale, inspired by acts like Lorde and Taylor Swift. It made Olivia the youngest person to top the Billboard Hot 100 at only seventeen years old. From the moment this song dropped, it was clear Rodrigo had a knack for honest, from-the-heart songwriting that turned her deepest vulnerabilities into her greatest strengths.
The full Sour album released in May, proving to be a transformative exploration of how it feels to grow up surrounded by new technology, social media and global unrest. The opening track ‘brutal’ puts it best, as Olivia shouts, “They say these are the golden years, but I wish I could disappear”. This gritty rock number references Elvis Costello’s ‘Pump It Up’ with a crumbling guitar riff leading the charge over crashing percussion and chunky basslines. Grungy, sarcastic and bitter, ‘brutal’ speaks to the attitudes of the modern youth, covering the dissatisfaction with our lives many of us know all too well.
This feeling reappears on ‘jealousy, jealousy’, where Olivia watches the highlight reels of her peers online as they flex their “Daddy’s nice car”, “paper white teeth and perfect bodies”. Comparing herself to the internet’s unrealistic standards puts Olivia in a pit of envy, a painful experience that we all went through more than ever back in 2021, when we were at the mercy of pandemic restrictions. Her deadpan delivery ironically imitates the detachment of acting cool, but the realism of the lyrics reveals her honest feelings and self.
The rest of Sour predominantly focuses on Olivia’s first heartbreak, a truly guttural emotional experience which everyone has been through in some shape or form. Still a career highlight years on, the second single ‘deja vu’ delves into Olivia’s discomfort watching an ex fall for someone new, and knowing her replacement is treated to all of her same experiences. Its visceral lyrics depict hyperspecific visions of Olivia’s past relationship. “Strawberry ice cream in Malibu”, “reruns of ‘Glee’” and “trading jackets” put the listener in her shoes perfectly. This imagery makes the dramatic, shouted bridge feel all the more cathartic, amongst its sparkling synths and roaring guitar lines. Notably, Olivia’s long-term producer Dan Nigro originally suggested the chorus emphasise a vocal chop effect, but instead Olivia thankfully pushed for instrumental space and a post-chorus riff. It’s that exact freedom and grandiosity that makes ‘deja vu’ so especially moving.
Otherwise, ballads take up much of Sour’s tracklist, highlighting how Olivia’s songwriting journey largely started as a personal way to process her feelings alone at a piano or behind a guitar. ‘1 step forward, 3 steps back’ interpolates Taylor Swift’s 2016 number ‘new year’s day’ into a purposefully disjointed song about an unpredictable relationship, with a lover who constantly swings from kindness to cruelty. ‘enough for you’ revisits the concept of comparing yourself to others, as Olivia tries to look “like the other prom queens” to prove her worth to an uncaring partner. And on the beloved deep cut ‘favorite crime’, which shows off Olivia’s startling vocal range influenced by her background in musical theatre, she extends metaphors about illegal activities to make peace with the fact she was a “willing accomplice” in allowing her heart to be broken.
Olivia also frequently muses on the ethics of a quick turnaround after a break-up. Her ex might not be a cheater, but they’re certainly a “traitor”, tackled on the song of the same name and ‘Happier’, which both dive into how tough it can be to watch someone move on faster than you. Both tracks emphasise delicate keys, desperate melodies and incredibly fragile vocal performances to tug at the audience’s heartstrings. ‘traitor’ in particular trended online, for its hooky, smart chorus and soaring, cinematic feel.
Amongst all of these impressive tracks, however, it’s impossible to ignore the absolute juggernaut that is ‘good 4 u’. Heavily influenced by the sound of 2000s emo acts like Paramore and Avril Lavigne, ‘good 4 u’ flipped the switch and showed that not only could Rodrigo deliver an effective ballad, but that she could let loose like a seasoned rockstar. Its ripping electric guitars and dynamic drums curate a fiery sound that few performers could compete against. Listening now also shows ‘good 4 u’ as a clear predecessor to the heavier direction of her 2023 sophomore effort Guts. Lines like “Maybe I’m too emotional / Your apathy is like a wound in salt” drip with sarcasm and sass, functioning both as genuine insight into Olivia’s fears and feelings around her break-up, and as a fierce kiss-off to spite her ex.
‘good 4 u’ is arguably Olivia’s most iconic music video to date, too. Created alongside directorial visionary Petra Collins, this dreamlike video presents Rodrigo as a deranged cheerleader burning down a scorned ex’s life, both figuratively and literally. It established the Sour era firmly in 2000s aesthetics, right as Y2K nostalgia took hold in pop culture. References to films like Jennifer’s Body and The Princess Diaries let the audience in on Olivia’s influences growing up, and connected her childhood icons to the powerful performer she’d become.
As Sour took off into the mainstream at lightning speed, Olivia also found plenty of ways to keep the era going. Although the pandemic limited opportunities for in-person connection, Olivia managed to find a way to perform for her fans with the Sour Prom virtual concert that June. The highly stylised film envisions Olivia singing her favourite album cuts in campy outfits and high school settings, emblematic of the historical teenage experience from the 80s to now. The following year, she collaborated with Disney+ on the documentary Driving Home 2 U, where she performs completely new arrangements of the Sour tracklist on a roadtrip through unique settings like parking structures, state parks and gas stations. The intentional Americana style of this film once again harkens back to nostalgic ideals of youth on film.
Olivia’s first concerts then took place across forty-nine dates on 2022’s Sour Tour. Other rising acts of the time like Chappell Roan, Baby Queen, Gracie Abrams and Holly Humberstones appeared as her opening acts. Rodrigo purposefully played smaller venues like theatres and halls rather than the arenas her fans expected, creating a surprisingly intimate vibe in an active effort not to “skip any steps” on her artistic journey and to get comfortable in a live setting. The setlists featured every song from Sour, as well as fan favorites from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ like ‘All I Want’, and covers from T.A.T.U and Katy Perry to Veruca Salt and No Doubt. Several audiences were also treated to guest appearances from Olivia’s friends including Conan Gray, Alanis Morrissette and Lily Allen.
Despite its title, there couldn’t be anything sweeter than seeing a young star break into the industry with an album like Sour. Its fifth anniversary is the perfect chance to celebrate ahead of Olivia’s upcoming third studio album ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’, out next month on June 12th. “I hope you know how proud I am you were created”, Olivia sang back in 2021. All this time later, she can be prouder than ever, of a debut record that changed both her life and ours.
