20 Best Album Covers Of 2021

Growing up in the social media age, the transition from the sweetness of childhood to the sourness of adolescence is one Generation Z experiences in a particularly striking manner. Social anxiety, attention-seeking, ego crush, insecurity, heartaches: Olivia Rodrigo juggles these with extraordinary honesty and style.

The association of her annoyed face and the childish stickers that adorn it works on multiple levels. You can either consider it’s a metaphor for how we’re always supposed to keep our virtual/social selves engaging and cheerful, even when we’re not, or that it’s a bittersweet representation of the nostalgia a lot of teenagers already feel.

Sour’s artwork is not merely a great illustration of Olivia Rodrigo’s mindset: it’s a great illustration of an entire generation’s.