drop dead

Big fan of the transition into this new wave, 80’s synth pop sound for Rodrigo here. While I feel she certainly sounds more at home in the pop punk space, this new style serves her well, thanks in part to Dan Nigro’s signature production style of sparkly, big choruses like those present on this track. It’s an approach that feels appropriate for her considering her storied fandom of classic rock acts like The Cure (with whom she’s performed live), and her fandom of David Byrne of Talking Heads fame. You can tell she’s a fan of the material she’s drawn such inspiration from here.

“One night I was bored in bed, and stalked you on the internet….but kiss me and I might drop dead” is written with equal parts childhood innocence, and a bit of teeny dramatics. It’s campy, and the whole melody is such an earworm. Can I also add that the guitar tone for the solo at the end of the song’s bridge is soooo sweet.

I was very curious to hear this single and what direction this next album would go sonically, and being that Olivia is easily one of the more earnest writers amongst her peers, I feel this next album is shaping up to be a bold departure from her previous work, often lauded as a bit too teen angsty for some. That said, I think this track is a great start for the album rollout soon to follow, call it reviewer’s intuition ;)