It’s (sort of) official: Olivia Rodrigo has a new album on the way and it’s around 70% complete.
That’s according to British Vogue, which has just interviewed the 23-year-old singer-songwriter about, among other things, the record that Rodrigo’s fans have been referring to as ‘OR3’.
Rodrigo describes the new album, her third, as a collection of “sad love songs”, explaining that “I realised all my favourite romantic love songs were beautiful because they had a tinge of fear or yearning in them.”
Although, at the time of the interview, Rodrigo said that there were still a few songs left to write, three were complete enough for them to be played to Vogue’s writer, Amel Mukhtar. She describes the first of these as “trippy soft rock,” the second as “dreamier, hazier,” and the third as “dancier, the most experimental I’ve heard her.”
And what’s this? The interview also features a brief contribution from Robert Smith, who joined Rodrigo on stage during her headlining appearance at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival to sing Cure classics Friday I’m in Love and Just Like Heaven.
Smith says that, like most of us, his first experience of Rodrigo’s music came when he heard Drivers License, her debut single, and it sounds like he’s been keeping tabs on her career ever since.
“I bought Sour, and then Guts (both on CD!),” Smith confirms. “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.”
Smith says that he was surprised but flattered when Rodrigo asked if he’d be willing to join her on stage, and the two hit it off to the extent that they’ve stayed in touch since.
“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,” says Smith, cryptically. “I can’t wait to hear what she does next!”
Could that mean a Robert Smith guest appearance on Rodrigo’s new album could be in the offing? Here’s hoping.
A release date for the record has yet to be announced, but now that Rodrigo has broken cover to talk about it, we’re guessing that we should be getting some news soon…
