Olivia Rodrigo made a change to her Maggots for Brains track that she thinks nobody else will notice. The chart-topping artist featured Maggots for Brains on her latest album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl so in Love. Rodrigo confirmed to the BBC that a change had been made to the song just before the album was released and that she doesn’t expect anyone but herself to notice what has changed.
She went on to explain that the slight change came because she was feeling “weird” about the song and a particular layer in the mix during the album’s production. The change appears to have made a difference overall though, with Rodrigo seemingly content with the song now that the change has been made.
Rodrigo told Dazed: “I love that song musically, and there’s a lot going on – a lot of harmonies – and literally in the car, I was like, turn that backing vocal up just one decibel. I was getting kind of weird about it. Nobody else will notice.” Those slight changes have made all the difference, as has bringing up music legends during her headline spots across the globe.
The pop star has collaborated with Weezer, David Byrne of Talking Heads, and most recently Robert Smith from The Cure on stage. Smith also features on her third studio album. Her headline slot at Glastonbury Festival had Smith appear for a performance of The Cure’s classic Boys Don’t Cry. It was a dream come true for Rodrigo too, who said: “Ugh, dream come true. That was the best weekend of my life, hands down.
“It was one of the happiest and proudest moments of my career. I adore Robert – he’s such a genius. The fact that he was so generous to show up and do it with me is just beyond me… I’m so grateful to him to this day. I love those [Cure] songs too and being able to sing them with him in front of that amazing crowd was the stuff of dreams. No other way to put it. I’ve hung out with him for a few nights in the studio. He’s nocturnal – he only works when it’s dark out – which is awesome.”
Rodrigo went on to praise Smith for his on-stage wisdom and helped in calming her down before the massive performance. She recalled: “I was lamenting to him about impostor syndrome and he said, ‘When you look out at the crowd at a concert, people either sing the songs back at you, or they don’t. You either connect with people, or you don’t. It is what it is. Don’t make it about you.’
“That gave me a little confidence boost. [Instead of thinking] ‘I’m not this, I’m not that,’ it’s all about connection. My favourite song to play sometimes is Traitor, because when I look at the audience, I see these girls crying and holding each other’s hands and having this cathartic experience. That makes me so happy – to see them feeling safe enough to express that feeling in public.”
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