With the new year bringing a close to the year of 2020, everyone is ready for change and ready to embrace anything 2021 will bring. With a year that brought not one, but two Taylor Swift (“Love Story”) albums, a resurgence in Miley Cyrus’ (“Midnight Sky”) career and range and relevance back to the Disney duo Aly & AJ with “Potential Breakup Song,” many of these artists from the early 2000s were promising new albums and collaboration in the new year. Between the Disney stars of yesterday and Disney+ throwing many back into their youth, it seems Disney can add yet another victory with the release of “drivers license” by Disney+ star, Olivia Rodrigo (“All I Want”) on Jan. 8.
Rodrigo, 17, has much of her initial fanbase to thank from the Disney+ original, “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.” The show, which debuted in November 2019, had been renewed for a second season before it even aired on Disney+ with promotion skyrocketing and comparisons to the original “High School Musical,” as well as many actors from Broadway promoting it at shows and even performances from the young cast at Elsie Fest 2019, a “Broadway Coachella” hosted by Darren Criss (“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”) intended for musical theatre lovers.
“drivers license” is a power and indie pop work. It walks the line of being a pop ballad through its usage of piano and such a long and dreamy bridge that swells into the chorus of the song. The incorporation of heavy kick drums and handclaps all contrast when the song hits its harmonious height at the interlude with staggering harmonies that can give goosebumps. Rodrigo has a delicacy and vibrato to her voice throughout the first half of the song, which almost makes her vocals sound strained and unsupported at some points. It isn’t until she gets to the second bridge where the harmonies come in that she really takes hold of her range and the power within her voice.
Having just really started her music career since the end of the first season of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” “drivers license” is the lead single off of her upcoming EP and promises much more success for Rodrigo. With the song debuting at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart just last week and breaking records for most streams within its first week of release, much of this has to do with the social media app, TikTok.
Aside from the familiar rite of passage and teenage drama that most feel at the tail end of high school, when getting their driver’s license, looking into college, feeling on top of the world, the song for many calls back on innocent days. Between that, a catchy melody, and even tons of gossip that has boiled over and been declared water under the bridge since the song’s debut, TikTok has immortalized the song and blew it up almost immediately. Many creators still use the most intense part of the song, the interlude, as audio for many of the one-minute long videos on the app. So, if you haven’t sought out the song to listen to it yourself, chances are you have probably already heard the most iconic part of it somewhere on social media.
Call it luck, talent or genius marketing, “drivers license” is a great hit by Olivia Rodrigo and promises much more potential this young artist has as she grows as a solo artist and develops her sense of voice and self ever further.
Image from Olivia Rodrigo via YouTube
