By Alain Cruz
This is going to be a mix of my opinions, what I like about each song, and how I personally interpret them. It’s my first time doing a full album review, so it might be a little uneven. Some songs I’ll have a lot to say about, and others I’ll keep shorter just because I don’t have as many thoughts.
Also, I’m going through the album in track order. If you like this, feel free to… hit the like button and subscribe? I think you can do that here. Maybe. I might be lying. Either way, this is just me reacting to the album as I listen.
“Drop Dead” feels very Olivia Rodrigo. I can see why this was the opening track and one of the singles. The lyrics bounce between hyper-online modern dating stuff like stalking each other’s Instagram, random astrology references like Pisces and Gemini compatibility, and those sarcastic little observations she throws into her songs. It’s basically a love song, but the humor and specific details keep it from feeling generic.
“Stupid Song” is probably the most Olivia Rodrigo song on the album. It starts as a standard piano-driven sad girl anthem, but as the song goes on the piano gets louder and more dramatic, making the emotions feel bigger and bigger. My favorite lyric is, “I love you more than any song I could ever sing.” It’s such a simple line, but it hits harder because Olivia is an artist who has built her career on writing songs about her life and relationships. The song also has a really nice beat switch that gives it more energy. I can’t tell if it’s the bass or another instrument driving it, but the added punch keeps the track from becoming repetitive. I also loved the line about a shirt coming undone, which feels like a reference to the “unravel” theme she’s been using throughout this era, including the title of the Unravel Tour. Moments like that make the album feel more connected and rewarding for listeners paying attention.
“Honey Bee” is one of the saddest songs on the album and one of my favorites. The background vocals are beautiful and give the song an emotional weight that sticks with you long after it’s over. I especially love the imagery in lyrics like “sticky sweet tangerine.” It’s such a simple detail, but it instantly creates a feeling that’s easy to recognize. Combined with the shooting star imagery, the song feels both warm and heartbreaking. To me, it’s about being deeply in love while still carrying a sense of sadness, and it fits perfectly within the album’s overall mood.
“Maggots for Brain” stands out for how raw and emotionally exposed it feels. I love the way the vocals blend with the beat, creating something both beautiful and unsettling. To me, the song feels like it’s about body dysmorphia and those moments where you get stuck in your own head, unable to get out of bed or move forward. The keyboard at the end is absolutely perfect and gives the track a strong finish. Also, on a completely unrelated note, I saw a “Brook from One Piece” edit set to this song, and it worked way better than it had any right to.
“You + Me = <3” is probably the most straightforward love song on the album, but that’s not a bad thing. I love that the title uses “<3” instead of an actual heart, which gives it a playful charm. One lyric that stood out to me was, “I like your big sister, I try to win her over with my cynical humor and yacht rock music taste.” It’s especially funny knowing Olivia has said in interviews that she doesn’t actually like yacht rock. More than anything, the song feels like a perfect summer day with your partner, simple, warm, and easy to enjoy.
“My Way” starts off with a funny Frank Sinatra joke, which immediately sets the tone. One of my favorite lyrics is, “this is the part where the girl gets pissed, and the girl is me,” which feels very Olivia Rodrigo. She’s always been good at breaking the fourth wall and calling attention to the fact that you’re listening to a song. It reminds me of moments on GUTS, especially “get him back!,” where she plays with structure in a similar way. I also really enjoyed the freestyle section, which ended up being my favorite part of the track and gives the song a burst of personality.
“Purple” feels like a moment of clarity. The song reminds me of a camera slowly coming into focus, with different emotions and ideas finally lining up. I kept picturing two sides, one red and one blue, gradually intersecting and becoming purple. That imagery works especially well since purple has been closely associated with Olivia Rodrigo since the beginning of her career. Whether intentional or not, the song feels reflective and self-aware, like different parts of her story coming together.
**End of Side A**
“The Cure” opens with an acoustic intro that immediately reminded me of “Everlong.” A friend even texted me saying the same thing after listening to the album, which made me notice it even more. Lyrically, the song keeps coming back to the idea of trying to find “the one” and love feeling like medication that never quite works long-term. There’s this repetition of something always feeling not enough, whether it’s the relationship or the emotional relief it provides. It ties into the same “unravel” themes running through the album, where love and stability feel fragile and constantly slipping out of reach.
“Begged” feels like one of the most emotionally direct songs on the album. It centers on the need to know if she’s “the one,” but strips it down into something much more fragile and uncomfortable. There’s this desire for a simple life, just watching movies and being close, but it’s interrupted by the absence of real emotional presence from the other person. What hits hardest is the cycle of asking for affection that never feels freely given. The more she has to request love, the more hollow it becomes.
“What’s Wrong With Me” is probably my favorite song on the album. The idea of going to a doctor and being told she’s fine is both funny and unsettling in a way only Olivia Rodrigo can pull off. I also think it’s really cool that this is her first collaboration, and she chose Robert Smith of The Cure for it. His presence fits the mood perfectly, especially with the line, “looking for distractions can’t seem to get around it.” At its core, the song feels like being in a relationship that should feel good on paper, but instead feels suffocating. Rather than love fixing things, the relationship itself becomes the problem.
“Less” is one of the most vulnerable songs on the album. It connects directly to the idea from the previous track, continuing that sense of slowly falling out of love instead of being pulled into it. The piano is simple but powerful, one of those ballads Olivia does so well. What stands out most is the emotional contrast: things that should be making her happy are instead doing the opposite.
“Expectations” is my favorite song on the album. This is a very Djo-coded song, I love the synthesizer and the energy. The idea of the song feels like making bad decisions but not knowing it. It’s very high energy, just a really poppy song. I have a theory that the “Silver Lake” line is going to be replaced depending on whatever city she’s performing in. I also like the Cure reference where she goes “this man will be the Cure,” and how she keeps calling back to different parts of the album. Whoever did the backing vocals absolutely popped off on this (editor’s note: it was Daniel Nigro and Olivia herself).
“Cigarette Smoke” is a slower track and feels like the perfect way to wind everything down. The line “five beers in the fridge” really stuck with me (I wish I had five beers in the fridge). There’s this cigarette smell imagery that sticks with you even after it’s gone, like something taken and given but still lingering behind. It also connects back to songs like “Honey Bee,” mixing happiness with something more uneasy underneath it. The instrumentation builds and then slowly falls back into just guitar, which I thought was perfect. The repetition of “going dark” feels like a really fitting way to close the album.
Overall, I think this is a very strong third album. I was already a big fan of her first two, and this one feels like a slam dunk. The whole album flows really well together, and I never felt like a song was out of place or something I didn’t enjoy. Even when songs are doing different things sonically, they still feel like they belong in the same world.
Listen at the link below:
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