Olivia Rodrigo “experienced real romantic love for the first time” as she penned her new album.
The 23-year-old singer’s third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, drops on June 12, six months after it was reported that Olivia and House of Guinness actor Louis Partridge, 22, had split after two years of dating.
During an appearance on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on Tuesday (22.04.26), Olivia said: “I started writing this album at a time in my life where I was experiencing real romantic love for the first time.”
The Vampire hitmaker – who was recently spotted on a date with 24-year-old Geese frontman Cameron Winter – listened to her top love songs as a source of inspiration for You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love.
Olivia said: “I realised that the thing that I loved so much about them is not that they were really happy, but they had sort of an element of sadness or fear or melancholy or longing.
“That’s what kind of made them tug at your heartstrings so much, and that’s what moved you so much.”
The three-time Grammy award-winning artist planned to write “a sad love song” when she started to work on the album.
Ryan, 51, asked if You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love was made from a place of vulnerability or healing, to which Olivia replied: “There’s a lot going on.
“It’s hard to encapsulate it in one word or one specific feeling. It’s very all over the place in a way that I like. There’s just so much to unpack in it.”
The Drivers License performer added: “I think it was about discovery for me.
“Discovering so many things about myself and also being in a real relationship. I think a good relationship holds a mirror to you and shows you parts of yourself that you never would have been able to see before. There’s a lot of looking inward.”
Olivia spent a lot of time in London when she made You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love.
She told British Vogue magazine’s April issue: “I’ve found a lot of inspiration from being in London.
“I’ve spent so much time here over the course of making this album. It has a lot of songs that are London vibes, about experiences that I’ve had here.”
The new album sees Olivia “bare my soul in songwriting”, and she hopes it “shows a different side of me”.