Olivia Rodrigo sings about heartbreak but she's already chosen her wedding song Mark SavageMusic correspondentJosh Falcon/BBCOlivia Rodrigo should be here any second.We're supposed to be filming an interview in Hampstead Heath - one of her favourite places - but the heavens have burst. It's not just raining cats and dogs, but otters, dolphins and multiple other water-dwelling mammals.As the monsoon monsoons, our lights and cameras are hastily scooped up and moved into the beautiful Victorian kitchen of nearby Kenwood House.It's a scramble, but everything's in place (just) when Rodrigo arrives - not a hair out of place, after a short but windy walk from her car to the set.Although it's an early start, the 23-year-old has already been working. On the journey over, she made final tweaks to a new song called Maggots For Brains, just 10 days before its release."I love that song musically, and there's a lot going on - a lot of harmonies - and literally in the car, I was like, turn that backing vocal up just one decibel," she says."I was getting kind of weird about it.
Nobody else will notice."'Petty, jealous or insecure?' Olivia Rodrigo on the art of songwritingWe've chosen Hampstead Heath because it's one of Rodrigo's favourite places in London – an open space where she can generally walk around without being bothered."It's the best place to hang out," she says. "Nobody's ever been weird, I guess because it's so spread out?"One time, I even saw someone propose. I was sitting on a bench, and I looked over, and there was a huge commotion, and all the couple's friends were there.
It was so sweet."It's a scenario she's dreamt about. Ideally, Rodrigo would also receive an outdoor proposal in New York's Central Park."I'd love it if someone paid for a placard on one of the benches that said, 'Will you marry me?'," she laughs. "Then you'd sit down and you're like, 'Oh my God!'"So spread the word...
Hopefully my future husband will see this."If you are out there, prospective Mr Rodrigo, you should also know your wedding song has been pre-selected."It's going to be I Melt with You by Modern English," Rodrigo says, humming the intro. "Imagine kissing and then walking back down the aisle to that? I love that song.""Take one" - the star takes control of the clapper boardIt's reassuring to hear her faith in love remains intact.Anyone who's listened to Rodrigo's first two albums, 2021's Sour and 2023's Guts, knows the singer has endured a few calamitous heartbreaks, approaching them with a mix of anguish, confusion and feminine rage.She didn't write her first true love song until 2024: So American – a punchy new wave cut, about falling head over heels for English actor Louis Partridge.Before long, her Instagram page was filled with photos from Wimbledon and double-decker busses.
Headlining Glastonbury last summer, with Partridge at the side of the stage, she changed the lyrics from "I think I'm in love" to "'Cause I'm in love".Watch the full interview with Olivia Rodrigo on YouTubeSo when she sat down to write her third album, she thought it would be pretty straightforward."I really wanted to capture romantic joy and pleasure for the first time, because my last two albums were very heartbroken and really angsty," she says.But one look at the title – You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love – suggests paradise wasn't what it seemed."It's a love story that falls apart," she confirms. "A time capsule of a relationship in a few years of my life."Polydor/InterscopeThe front cover of Rodrigo's album shows her swinging through the air, carefree and full of joy. Flip it over, and she's flat on the ground, "with my hair strewn about and looking kind of depressed".It opens in a London pub, where Rodrigo is besotted by a boy who "looks like an angel on the walls of Versailles".
He's so pretty she's paranoid she made him up. If he kisses her, she might drop dead.By the second track, Stupid Song, they've hooked up; and she's so happy she can't write a sensible lyric."When you're really deeply in love, it feels like a song is so futile," she says. "It's really hard to capture in a way that feels palpable to others."As the album progresses, however, doubts and anxieties creep in.Getty ImagesOlivia Rodrigo performed two songs with The Cure's Robert Smith when she headlined Glastonbury last JuneEverything hinges around track seven, Purple.
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