Olivia Rodrigo

“Drop dead” is the start of a new chapter in Olivia Rodrigo’s new era of songwriting.

In anticipation of Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, the singer dropped a new single to satiate her fans’ excitement. This song marks a break in her songwriting silence since her 2024 album, Guts. Even though lacking aggressive advertising tactics, the anticipation surrounding this release was immense. 

On Apr. 17, Rodrigo released the single “drop dead.” Most fans of Rodrigo were already intrigued by the single, purely by the nature of her upcoming album’s title. Unlike her previous albums, which had one-word titles such as Sour and Guts, the album that “Drop Dead” is from is far longer than that. The album’s title, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, created a new precedent for her newest single, leaving listeners with less of a standard to base her new song off of. With listeners having a blank slate when listening, it’s no wonder the reviews were ambiguous. 

“Drop dead,” while unlike her previous songs, still maintained a sense of familiarity and was exceedingly great. Although some nostalgic listeners might dislike her newer direction, the overall song was fantastic. It started with a similar tempo to her previous songs: upbeat yet dreamy. The whole energy of the song stayed true to her original teenage audience, creating a relatable and mature song with a large focus on emotional connections. The love-soaked lyrics kept emotions invoked without causing blurry eyes. After repeated listens, I found it hard to maintain a poor mood when listening. The chorus itself is extremely catchy without being tacky, leading to many late-night sing alongs.

What made this song stand out in particular was the disco-esque beat and quickly paced chorus. While this techno-disco-themed beat had been used previously in songs like “vampire,” it still stood out among her earlier music. Upon my first listen, I found that the overall vibe of her song seemed very similar to that of Chappell Roan, and I thought that the intro to her chorus was almost the exact same as that of “Pink Pony Club” by Roan. While many agree with this take, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. I don’t believe the similarities between the two songs to be plagiarism. The songs themselves were more than different enough to avoid this accusation. I feel the similarities are purely speculative, and this difference in Rodrigo’s songwriting is just her experimenting with a new image.

Overall, I feel “drop dead” is one of Rodrigo’s best songs yet. While her new take might offend nostalgic listeners, it still stays familiar enough that it’s recognizably Rodrigo. The song is upbeat, catchy, dreamy, and everything a ‘girl so in love’ yearns to feel.