Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan – “expectations”

Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan have made another excellent pop song. Shocking. Stop the presses. At this point, what is there left to say about two artists whose talent, success, and cultural impact have been examined from approximately every conceivable angle? Personal taste aside, the numbers have already submitted their testimony, and the jury appears to have gone home. So rather than spend the next several paragraphs explaining why Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan are good at being Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan, I'd like to redirect everyone's attention to Daniel Nigro. Everybody, please give this man a round of applause.

“expectations” is a particularly fun example why Nigro has become one of the defining architects of contemporary pop. Originally released on Rodrigo's album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, the song already had plenty going for it, with its punchy, new-wave-inspired production and gloriously unimpressed assessment of modern dating. Roan arrives with her own romantic grievances, swapping Rodrigo's disappointing man for an equally disappointing woman. Apparently, emotional unavailability is an equal-opportunity employer. The two trade verses and frustrations over a production that keeps everything moving with bright synths, restless energy, and the kind of chorus that makes its intentions known immediately. It's clever, catchy, and entirely aware of itself.

But back to Nigro, because I'm not finished applauding. There's a reason his name keeps appearing alongside some of the most exciting pop music being made. His fingerprints are all over the records I keep returning to, and I'm developing a rather expensive appreciation for his contributions to my listening habits. I love that so much of his brilliance comes through in the brilliance of the artists he works with. Rodrigo sounds unmistakably Rodrigo. Roan sounds gloriously Roan. And Nigro, somehow, manages to be everywhere without demanding to be seen. Everybody gets their flowers, of course. Nigro gets a box of chocolates, too.