This week, Hannah talks about her love of Top Gun and her need for the sequel and Daysia gives her first thoughts on SOUR. Livies rise up!!!!

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Daysia and Hannah

This Week's Fixations

What’s taking up our brain space this week?

Daysia: Alright, Livies, SOUR is OUT! I love it, of course—so much so that I am heartbroken despite being in a stable relationship. The power she has!

During my many listens throughout the day, it has felt like an easter egg hunt of pop musical references (I’ve been bugging my friends all day just pointing out the different influences I hear in SOUR). Major Taylor inspo in “traitor,” “1 step forward, 3 steps back” (of course), and “enough for you” (it’s kind of reminding me of “Safe and Sound” ??). My boyfriend caught a bit of Courtney Barnett in “brutal” and the instrumental intro also gives a touch of Dua Lipa (à la “Love Again”). And of course there’s the Paramore vibes in "good 4 u" and some Lorde comparisons to be made throughout the album. 

It’s clear that Rodrigo wears her inspirations on her sleeve, which can feel derivative to some. Emily Bootle of The New Statesman wrote in a review that SOUR is not a cultural reset, rather just an amalgamation of culture. I think that's true, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. I see the album as an homage to the favs that shaped her, a love letter of sorts within an album full of heartache. There is a lot of room for Rodrigo to find a more distinct, refined sound, but for now SOUR is a clear product of the sad, angsty pop tropes of the 2000s/2010s. 

Finally, after listening to the project in full, I have even more thoughts about Rodrigo’s supposed relationship with Joshua Bassett, whom many believe these songs are about. I don’t even have the time or brain power to fully express my disdain for the discourse around the two of them, but I will just end by saying this—the most upsetting thing to me about this alleged relationship is not simply that he may have broken her heart, but that their age difference would have played a role in the power dynamics of it. The hill I die on is that 17 and 20 is a big difference when you’re that age (perhaps why it’s also illegal!). It especially hurts my heart listening to “enough for you,” thinking about what a losing game it is to be a teen girl trying to impress your older boyfriend by seeming more mature and comparing yourself to his older exes. Been there, as many young girls have (including, it appears, Rodrigo). But I wish I hadn’t. It all just makes these songs even sadder!

Hannah: Here’s a fun fact about me: I love Top Gun. I’m not sure why this Tom Cruise movie from 1986 has made it on the list of movies that I can watch repeatedly and not get bored (others on this list include The Social Network, Clueless, and Ponyo) but it has. Maybe it’s a young Tom Cruise on a motorcycle. Maybe the excellent soundtrack. I love it! 

And I was super excited that the sequel was finally coming out, especially because Manny Jacinto was now part of the cast. (Honestly, I would watch 90 minutes of Manny Jacinto exiting an F-22 or whatever in a flight suit in slow motion.) But, alas, like many other movies last year the release date was pushed back to this year. Originally, Top Gun: Maverick was scheduled to come out over Fourth of July weekend—of course, a classic summer blockbuster—but now it’s not coming out until November. And the reason is that Tom Cruise wants to do a global press tour to promote the movie. I say just give us the movie, Tom! Between this and Christopher Nolan insisting that Tenet be viewed in cinemas (for the record: I think it would have been fine to watch it on an iPod Touch, it wasn’t that special), I think there’s a lot that can be said about how the industry is adapting to the new normal. While going to the cinema is one of my favorite things in the world, I also don’t like waiting forever for things to come out. I think it’s super interesting how different studios are adapting in the ways that they promote and distribute movies (highly recommend Josef Adalian’s Vulture newsletter Buffering if you’re interested in this kind of stuff). But at the end of the day, I just want to watch a movie and don’t really care where I watch it. In the meantime, I’m counting down the days until November. 

Has Lorde Dropped a new album?

No… and as you can see Lorde stans are begging for a crumb. 

Petition for Lorde x Olivia Rodrigo though.

In the meantime, cry to Olivia Rodrigo’s “happier” or smash a plate while listening to “brutal.” And after that, play Lil Nas X’s latest single “SUN GOES DOWN.”

Too Many Tabs

For the New York Times, Amanda Hess profiled Sinead O’Connor ahead of O’Connor’s new memoir, discussing the singer’s cultural blacklisting and how falling into pop success felt “like being in a type of prison.”

Jodie Turner-Smith discusses hair, her new role as Anne Boleyn, and diversity in Hollywood with Abigail Blackburn for Glamour UK. 

Maria Sherman interviewed Olivia Rodrigo about SOUR, gossip around her songs, her inspirations, toeing the line between comparison and competition, and breaking the Disney mold for NYLON’s music issue.

Plus… the greatest use of the “how it started, how it’s going” meme, A$AP Rocky and Rihanna are officially a thing, what The Woman in the Window shows us about mental illness, and Archie Andrews (aka KJ Apa) is going to be a dad.