This is the debut studio album from Disney child star turned pop punk phenom Olivia Rodrigo. As mentioned, she got her start on the Disney Channel with Bizzardvark and more famously, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (The Long Ass Title). Her singing in the latter series got the attention of Daniel Nigro, who became her producer for this album. Olivia Rodrigo started working with Nigro and released drivers license, which became a smash hit in early 2021. Olivia was just going to release an EP, but the commercial success of drivers license proved the need for a full length album, and thus, Sour was created and released unto the world, becoming another massive success and one of the most popular albums of this year with brutal, good 4 u, déjà vu and drivers license being enjoyed by (mostly) young people the world over.
I have not only been waiting for this album’s release but waiting for the right time to talk about it. Part of what was swirling around Sour was Olivia Rodrigo’s previous breakup with her co-star, Joshua Bassett and his new relationship with Sabrina Carpenter, another Disney Channel star. Theories swirled around that a vast majority of the singles from Sour were about Bassett, and of course, I ate it up because it was a fun narrative. I hoped that Joshua Bassett’s EP released earlier this year would have been an interesting counterpoint to drivers license, released before the EP, but I ended up hating that EP with a burning passion for several reasons, not all of them related to that drama. Also, my sister really wanted me to hear it. She loves this album.
I think SOUR is a quite solid album. Sure, there are a few holes and missed opportunities here and there, but SOUR managed to grab a much tighter hold on me than I expected it would.
Production is unfortunately where I see some of the problems arise. I love how Olivia Rodrigo’s voice is on top and I like how guitars and drums are treated, but I wish this album had a little more low end. The lack of low end undercuts a few of the musical explosions in this album and I think that’s a bit of a shame. A little more low end could add that extra oomph that I feel this album desperately needs.
Speaking of oomph, raw power and passion are what attracted me and many others to Olivia Rodrigo’s music in the first place. While the foundation is there in the composition, this album still needs some work. Instruments are fun, but they need that last blast of power that would really tie together that punk energy. Song structure is pretty standard pop song structure. Album structure is kind of clunky at first trying to drop main themes, but it gets better as it goes along, except for a few spots.
Speaking of themes, lyrics are a huge selling point with this album. It starts with Olivia Rodrigo’s voice whose emotion is palpable, especially for the more driving tracks like good 4 u. She also has this really pretty soft voice for the softer tracks as well as her harmonies. The lyrics themselves are very, very teenage, and I am all for it! They’re on the nose, angsty, a bit cheesy and not the deepest in the world, but they’re really fun and I can still get a big emotional response from these lyrics. The anger from teenage problems (mostly about relationships) that Olivia sings about clearly comes from a real place and I can feel that.
In conclusion, this album is teen angst done very right. There are a few bumps in the road, but I hope this album sticks around in the minds of music listeners for a long time. If this is the album where she’s learning the ropes of songwriting, I cannot wait for what comes next from her!
I’m giving this a Decent 7/10
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