Robert Smith Raves About Olivia Rodrigo, Says They’ve Been In The Studio

Olivia Rodrigo continues to make great impressions on the alt-rock elders who she obviously admires. Rodrigo brought out David Byrne at last year's Gov Ball, and then Byrne shared his bad-idea cover of her smash "Drivers License" a few months later. When Rodrigo headlined Glastonbury last year, she brought out the Cure frontman Robert Smith, and now Smith is saying some very complimentary things about Rodrigo and sharing the news that they've been in the studio together.

Rodrigo is the subject of a new British Vogue cover story, which includes a few vague details about her as-yet-unannounced third album. The piece also includes some secondary email quotes from Smith, who joins the rest of us in gushing about Rodrigo. Smith says that he heard "Drivers License" first and that he "bought Sour, and then Guts (both on CD!). Although most of the songs on those two albums are not really 'aimed at my demographic'(!), they are all so good that it is hard not to fall in love with them." I feel you, Robert Smith.

Smith also says that he was happily surprised to get the Glastonbury invite from Rodrigo and that they have remained friends: "She calls me up quite a bit to talk about clothes and fashion — and we have enjoyed a couple of memorable nights in the studio together… I can’t wait to hear what she does next!" That doesn't mean they've been collaborating, necessarily, but it's something.

The headline of the Vogue story refers to Rodrigo's upcoming LP as her "most experimental," though writer Amel Mukhtar estimates that Rodrigo is only "about 70% done" with the new LP. (Given the recent teasers that we'll get into below, it seems likely that Rodrigo did the interview a while ago and that it's further along than that.) Rodrigo says that the tracks on the LP are "sad love songs... I realized all my favorite romantic love songs were beautiful because they had a tinge of fear or yearning in them."

There's a slightly excruciating scene in the profile where Rodrigo plays three songs for Mukhtar and then sits and watches while the writer takes notes. Mukhtar writes that the songs are "instantly transporting, cinematic and so intimate that I can’t bring myself to look at her while I listen." One song is "smooth, trippy soft rock." Another is "dreamier, hazier," and reportedly inspired by the relationship between Miranda and Steve on Sex And The City.

The last of the three songs, Mukhtar's favorite, is "dancier, the most experimental I’ve ever heard her." Rodrigo says that it's "what I think being in love feels like... You’re getting to the core of all of your issues: how you feel about yourself, your insecurities, what makes you joyful. It feels like the most raw form of you, which is so scary and terrifying and uncomfortable, sometimes, but beautiful at times."

There have recently been rumors that Rodrigo's next LP will include a duet with Sabrina Carpenter, widely believed to be the "blonde girl" that Rodrigo sang about on "Drivers License." In the British Vogue story, Rodrigo says, "I’ve talked to [Carpenter] many times... I think she’s great. I’m so happy for all of her success too. I love the album she’s put out."

Rodrigo also addressed the U.S. Department Of Homeland Security using her song “all-american bitch” in a video promoting ICE last fall. "don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda," she wrote at the time. “That was awful. Dystopian,” she tells Vogue. "The way that Ice is ripping apart communities and terrorizing people is so disturbing. It’s a really sad, scary time."

DHS shared this response in a statement: "America is grateful all the time for our federal law enforcement officers who keep us safe. We suggest Ms. Rodrigo thank them for their service, not belittle their sacrifice.”

Earlier this month, Rodrigo released her great cover of the Magnetic Fields' "The Book Of Love" on the benefit compilation HELP(2). Yesterday, Elle published a piece about all the possible teasers for a third Rodrigo album, which include LA billboards and Rodrigo rocking slightly different color schemes at various public appearances. So it's coming; we just don't know when.

Smith, meanwhile, is curating this year's Teenage Cancer Trust gigs at London’s Royal Albert Hall. He's replacing the charity's longtime patron Roger Daltrey of the Who.