Brimful with anger, jealousy, and melancholy, an impressive debut LP by the 18-year-old American actress and singer-songwriter may be fuelled by all the usual teenage angst, but is startlingly mature, fuelled by a heartbreak, and mixes punk rage with power-ballad slow-boil spite. Opening track Brutal, after a little burst of soft drinks is a cracking bit of teen rage self-deprecatory indie rock - “it’s brutal out here”. But after that, most of the album is slips more into piano power ballad territory, with plenty of pace changes and musical decoration, from Traitor to the huge hit Drivers License, while Enough For You addresses the ex with acoustic guitar melancholy, while Happier is a brutally honest statement of bitterness - When your arms are around her I hope you’re happy but don’t be happier … just not how you were with me”. Rodrigo is like a teen Alanis Morissette, and particularly with songs such as Jealousy, Jealousy, or Good 4 U, It’s a cathartic formula that is likely to make her big-selling star. Out on Geffen.
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