After creating some of the most poignant breakup songs of this century, Olivia Rodrigo shifts her focus to the joy of falling in love. In her first two albums, 2021’s Grammy-winning Sour and 2023’s triple-platinum Guts, she established herself as an expert on Gen Z romance, drawing comparisons to Taylor Swift.

Rodrigo captured the sting of betrayal in her debut single, “Drivers License,” expressed the pain of seeing an ex move on in “Good 4 U,” and delivered sharp lines like in “Get Him Back!” Yet, in her third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, Rodrigo, now 23, embraces the pleasures of new love. She masterfully crafts songs about the early stages of love that rival the intensity of her breakup tracks.

Opening with “Drop Dead,” Rodrigo likens a bar patron to an “angel on the walls of Versailles,” setting a high emotional bar. In “Stupid Song,” she uses metaphors to convey lovesickness—a car without brakes, a heart of melting wax—before distilling it to a striking line: “You should feel how I feel when somebody says your name.”

In “Maggots for Brains,” Rodrigo laments her uselessness when her partner is away. It’s noteworthy that she’s releasing such tracks only four years after being a Disney star. “U + Me = <3” stands out as a euphoric love anthem featuring young lovers etching names into car seats and showcasing impressive cynicism and music taste to impress a boyfriend’s sister. It includes poetic lines: “They say modern love’s a cruel endeavor / And to that I say, F— it, whatever.” These lines would make Kurt Cobain proud.

Rodrigo collaborates with longtime producer Dan Nigro, expanding her musical range to include folk-rock, new wave, and a beautiful piano ballad, “Less.” The album traces a relationship’s arc, shifting in the second half to heartbreak, showing Rodrigo’s growth and new insights into love’s complexities.

In “The Cure,” with a guitar pattern echoing Smashing Pumpkins’ “Disarm,” Rodrigo concludes that a partner cannot mend internal struggles. “Begged” explores the limits of overlooking a partner’s flaws. After playing these tracks, earlier happy songs hint at the inevitable heartbreak, which Rodrigo skillfully embeds within them.

Appropriately, Robert Smith of The Cure, known for his jubilant yet gloomy style, looms over the album. Referenced in “The Cure” and “Drop Dead,” Smith even sings a duet with Rodrigo in “What’s Wrong With Me,” where they embrace love’s challenges. As they sing about spinning heads and sick stomachs, they accept that love’s turmoil is a part of the journey.