Olivia Rodrigo mines the cure, strikes gold on new album

Olivia Rodrigo is back — and critics are calling it her best yet. The 23-year-old dropped her third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, on June 12, and it’s already breaking records.

The 13-track concept album follows a first big love from the “girl so in love” highs to the “you seem pretty sad” comedown. Lead single “Drop Dead” kicked things off, while a surprise duet with The Cure’s Robert Smith on “What’s Wrong With Me” has fans talking. Gothic guitars, orchestral strings, and nods to Gary Numan and R.E.M. show Rodrigo mining her heroes without losing her own voice.It’s working.

Spotify named it the most-streamed album in a single day in 2026 so far by a female artist, with 81.6 million first-day streams. Metacritic gave it “universal acclaim” with an 89 score. Pitchfork called it her “most sophisticated” release yet.

If Sour was heartbreak and Guts was growth, this one’s maturity. As Sputnikmusic put it, Rodrigo’s songwriting has hit “a level of perfection and depth rarely achieved by her pop contemporaries.”