After having well-surpassed the dangers of a “sophomore slump” on her second album of Guts, Olivia Rodrigo must’ve felt mounting pressure to continue to deliver on her third major label record. You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love on its surface is a pretty depressing title for a pop artist, but Rodrigo weaves these 13 songs together with veteran ease, precision, and purpose. The LP features a “pinch me” moment for Rodrigo with a guest collaboration with Robert Smith of The Cure, who contributes vocals and harmonies on the record’s tenth song of “What’s Wrong With Me”. She continues her collaborative process with producer Dan Nigro (Chappell Roan, Kylie Minogue), and through this trusted relationship, Rodrigo takes some big creative risks on arguably her most experimental album to date. With so many stylistic choices being made here, the album faced the danger of being a disjointed listening experience, but You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love ends up being the polar opposite of that. Olivia Rodrigo continues to get better and better at her songwriting craft and her third album is arguably her strongest to date.