Don’t fret: the Olivia Rodrigo Cinematic Universe isn’t finished quite yet. ‘Sour’ may have been released back in May but Rodrigo has just dropped the music video for her poignant “screw you” ballad, ‘traitor’ – the fifth single and video from her blockbuster debut album.
Artfully directed by Olivia Bee, a photographer who previously shot all of Maggie Rogers‘ album artwork, ‘Traitor’ switches between found-footage – artificially aged to look like an 80s VHS tape – and classic pastel Rodrigo visuals, as she sings all her heartache down the lens.
Set across one night with all the staples of a high school night of rebellion, Rodrigo and co. break into the local arcade, football field and school swimming pool in a pick-up truck lit up like a Christmas tree. Rodrigo, sporting a sweet new partial hair dye, is noticeably detached from her merry group of pals as she processes the betrayal from an ex: “Guess you didn’t cheat / But you’re still a traitor“. There are neat Easter eggs too, as one of her friends wears a pair of Mickey Mouse ears to run off onto the American football field in a subtle nod to Rodrigo’s Disney beginnings.
The Forty-Five’s Charlotte Gunn gave ‘Sour’ a four-star review, calling it “possibly the greatest coming-of-age album since early Taylor Swift or Lorde.” Upon its release, the record smashed the worldwide Spotify record for the biggest opening week by a female artist, making Rodrigo one of the most successful artists of 2021.
