From Dazed:
I was at Glastonbury last year and loved your set. What was it like to sing with Robert Smith?
Olivia Rodrigo: Ugh, dream come true. That was the best weekend of my life, hands down. It was one of the happiest and proudest moments of my career. I adore Robert – he’s such a genius. The fact that he was so generous to show up and do it with me is just beyond me... I’m so grateful to him to this day. I love those [Cure] songs too and being able to sing them with him in front of that amazing crowd was the stuff of dreams. No other way to put it. I’ve hung out with him for a few nights in the studio. He’s nocturnal – he only works when it’s dark out – which is awesome.
t seems like you have a lovely friendship. Has he given you any good advice over the last few months?
Olivia Rodrigo: I was lamenting to him about impostor syndrome and he said, ‘When you look out at the crowd at a concert, people either sing the songs back at you, or they don’t. You either connect with people, or you don’t. It is what it is. Don’t make it about you.’ That gave me a little confidence boost. [Instead of thinking] “I’m not this, I’m not that,” it’s all about connection. My favourite song to play sometimes is “traitor”, because when I look at the audience, I see these girls crying and holding each other’s hands and having this cathartic experience. That makes me so happy – to see them feeling safe enough to express that feeling in public.
In terms of the album’s sound, are there any artists or groups or specific eras that inspired you?
Olivia Rodrigo: I was listening to a lot of post-punk: The Cure, New Order, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie and the Banshees... Hopefully it translated. I wanted it to sound like how it feels to fall in love; string arrangements that are like your heart swelling, or the ups and downs of having a crush on someone.
