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When Olivia Rodrigo released you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, she was still young enough for each year to bring drastic changes to her life and music. In the middle of making her third album, her first "big-girl relationship" ended, giving her the opportunity to document the relationship from beginning to end -- as well as her artistic growth. There's no four-letter album title, no violet-dominated album cover, and (almost) no dunking on frustrating guys. Instead, Rodrigo and longtime producer Dan Nigro have made a capital-A Album about how devastating, and transformative, it is to give yourself to someone completely and then lose it all.

Every aspect of pretty sad reflects this higher level of craft. The album's sound is a winning update of '80s new wave and synth pop worthy of a John Hughes soundtrack that shines especially brightly on the New Order-worshipping "u + me = <3." Its chronological structure lets Rodrigo's feelings fly so high on the first half with "honeybee" -- which builds into a grand musical gesture of love with strings and a choir -- that when they fall on the second half with "begged"s desperate honesty, it's no wonder her heart shatters on impact. While Rodrigo's emotions may be all over the place, she expresses them with some of her most cohesive songwriting. Images of sickness, flatness, and unraveling appear even in seemingly happy moments like "maggots for brains," an iridescent tribute to how dull everything is when the one you love is gone. Lovesickness is literal and physical on "less," where her head and body are "protesting" over a poignant piano melody indebted to her love of Billy Joel.

Rodrigo's biggest influence on you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, however, is the Cure's Robert Smith. Since their duet at her 2025 Glastonbury performance, they've been inspired collaborators. Not only do their voices sound great together, both distill the highest highs and lowest lows in ways that resonate with millions. Smith's figurative or literal presence shapes the album, whether Rodrigo namechecks "Just Like Heaven" on the soaringly romantic opener "drop dead" or their camaraderie on "What's Wrong with Me" makes the end of a relationship feel oddly heartwarming. And though she stated "the cure" doesn't refer to Smith and company, it's a happy coincidence that the album's finest moment shares the name of his band -- and that it's easy to imagine him singing broodingly self-aware lines like "But my head is full of poison/And my heart is full of doubt."

Rodrigo devotes so much care to the album's evolving sound and mood that at first it's hard to notice the lyrics aren't always up to her level of detail. Among the many ballads, "my way"'s bite is refreshing, yet its generic put-downs ring hollow. There are still some memorable barbs and insights, not the least of which is "It's bone-dry, bitter and hollow/You will never know my sorrow/Why'd I try at all?" from "cigarette smoke," a more mature incarnation of the heartbreak Rodrigo has mastered since "Driver's License." you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love's tight focus on falling in and out of love also leaves little room for the empowering wit that made GUTS and Sour so engaging, though "expectations" is a sharp, synth-driven reminder of how she excels at drawing a line between herself and guys who fall short.

Even if it's not quite as much fun as Rodrigo's previous albums, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love is an accomplished introduction to the next phase of her career. She's armed with ambition and wisdom about how love changes -- and how it changes a person -- that will serve her music well for years to come.

A1        Drop Dead
A2        Stupid Song
A3        Honeybee
A4        Maggots For Brains
A5        U + Me = <3
A6        My Way
A7        Purple
B1        The Cure
B2        Begged
B3        What's Wrong With Me
B4        Less
B5        Expectations
B6        Cigarette Smoke