2023-09-15 18:57:59
Olivia Rodrigo, in concert at the MTV Video Music Awards, September 12, 2023, near New York. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
Yet another example of the impressive pool of teenage singer-actresses provided by Disney Channel (after Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Zendaya, Christina Aguilera…), Olivia Rodrigo transformed, at 17, into a pop superstar and generational phenomenon since the release of his first album, Sourin May 2021.
TikTok virality, hundreds of millions of streams, triumphant tours, collection of Grammy Awards have rewarded the ability of this Californian of Filipino origin to condense her youthful frustrations and anger into a double tempo. That of sentimental ballads (the megatube Drivers License) and that – almost anachronistic – of rock (the triumph of Good 4 U).
When the other icon of Generation Z, Billie Eilish, weaves many of her tormented hits to the sound of machines borrowed from rap and electro, Rodrigo often sculpts them with good old guitars. An electric tendency further strengthened in a second album, Gutsfull of adrenaline.
Vachard and mischievous feather
Because if her two years of frenzied success make her reflect seriously on the pangs of fame (Making the Bed), if heartaches are still nourished by melancholic piano (Logical, The Grudge) ou d’influences country (Lacy), her wild and mischievous pen seems above all to radiate the energy radiating from an artist who is riding the crest of success.
With this mixture of impertinence and professionalism, sincerity and ultra-control which characterizes the unifying effectiveness of her songwriting, the singer, barely 20 years old, colors her bouncy anthems with multiple references. Cleverly playing on his wise appearance and less wise feelings, All-American Bitch is inspired by the way groups like Sum 41 or Blink-182 hijacked punk vitality in favor of dapper choruses.
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With its producer, Daniel Nigro, who already directed and co-signed Sourthe American alternates caress and lively intensity, recalling the dynamism of rock-rap groups (Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit…) in Get Him Back ! or that of grunge in a Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl with a bouncy Nirvana riff.
The quotes can go back as far as the 1980s, with a Pretty Isn’t Pretty imbued with the haughty spleen of The Cure, or show that Olivia Rodrigo has listened a lot to Wet Leg, the British indie rock sensation of the moment, whose cheeky singing-talking marks Bad Idea Right ?. Not to the point, probably, of forcing the young idol to share the credits, as she had to do with Taylor Swift and the group Paramore for two songs from Sour flirting with plagiarism.
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