Allow us to stan-out for a second: Olivia Rodrigo’s third album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love, dropped today, and the TL;DR is, it’s really good. A calculated shift away from the Avril Lavigne-leaning pop punk and Lorde-like balladry that she built her career upon, the new record is a stunning tribute to the synthy, darkly bright sound of British new wave, and masterfully pays homage to the euphoric melancholy of bands like Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode, and most obviously, The Cure.
Once again, however, the most impressive element of her artistry remains her songwriting; at just 23 years old, Rodrigo is already articulating the nauseating nuances and painful pitfalls of love better than most artists twice her age, with her best musical moments coming out on the bridge. Dare we say, she might just be the new undisputed Queen of Bridges.
The record opens with the lead single, “Drop Dead,” and when it reaches its peak, the bridge is not unlike that of her 2021 hit “Deja Vu”: it’s loud, it’s explosive, and it feels like a rush of adrenaline to the brain. But that build pales in comparison to the bridge on the following track, “Stupid Song,” on which Rodrigo delivers a rousing declaration of love at half of volume of the previous song before piercing through the silence with the brief exaltation, “Nobody’s wanted somebody more!” between every line — definitive proof that you don’t need a high-energy build and scream-sung gang vocals to have a perfect bridge.
The next arresting bridge comes on “My Way,” where Rodrigo adopts the persona of the villain hurling insults at another girl trying to shoot her shot with her boyfriend. “So, where'd you get that confidence from? / Last time that I checked, I won / Let me be direct: just stop / You're being f*cking weird,” she sings in her most bratty voice over a wailing high-pitched synth. The song certainly doesn’t paint her in the best light, yet it’s so addictive that it’s hard not to be on her side.
Of course, we can’t talk about bridges without acknowledging “The Cure.” The second single from the record, the track sees Rodrigo realizing that romantic love won’t heal your insecurities. The first three minutes of the song are quiet, intimate, tame. But as the voices in her head continue to mount, she erupts in a chorus of belts, pleading, “Why can’t you come stitch me up?” A perfect encapsulation of the album’s title, it’s the most essential moment not just on the song, but on the record as a whole. While the lyrics definitely pack a punch, it’s the tension within the production paired with Rodrigo’s disarming vocal delivery that makes this moment so crucial — she’s letting the music do the talking, without having to use overly-written metaphors or complicated wordplay as a crutch. It’s an economy of words and a lesson in restraint that many artists could stand to learn from.
Possibly the best bridge on the album, however, takes place on the final track on the album, a haunting depiction of post-breakup clarity called “Cigarette Smoke.” Even with some distance from the relationship, she can’t seem to shake the memories of her ex, despite seemingly wanting nothing to do with him anymore. “It’s bone dry, bitter, and hollow / You'll be miles away tomorrow / Why'd I try at all?” Rodrigo laments, her voice swelling over a suite of acoustic guitars and string instruments. With this bridge, she closes out the record on an angry, love-scorned note, which, if we had to guess, is exactly what she wanted.
Whether or not the public is ready to crown her the Queen of the Bridge, there’s no denying that the singer-songwriter is at the top of her game, consistently raising the bar with every new release. Simply put, none of these new pop girls are doing it Olivia Rodrigo.
