Welcome to the New Wave of Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo approached the production of her third album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, which came out on Friday, with a specific goal in mind: make “the ‘not’ purple album.” Simple enough! Step one: abandon the shade of lilac that almost identically adorned her first two album covers. (She essentially distilled the hue into sky blue and baby pink for so in love’s color palette, but I’ll give it to her. Mission accomplished!) Step two was tougher, and presented a challenge that’s been looming over the entire current class of mainstream artists: actually evolve in a climate that’s becoming virtually inhospitable for pop stars.