Sour (album)

Sour (stylized in all caps) is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo. It was released on May 21, 2021, through Republic Records.

Background
On December 9, 2020, Olivia Rodrigo signed to Republic Records, intending to release her debut extended play in 2021. She was the main writer of the song "Lonely Streets", with the help of producer Daniel Nigro. The song was released as her debut single on January 8, 2021, to positive reviews. Billboard magazine declared it as one of the "most dominant" hits in Hot 100 history.

In an interview with Nylon, Olivia described her debut project, stating, "I want it to be super versatile. My dream is to have it be an intersection between mainstream pop, folk music, and alternative rock. I love the songwriting and the lyricism and the melodies of folk music. I love the tonality of alt-rock. Obviously, I'm obsessed with pop and pop artists. So I'm going to try and take all of my sort of influences and make something that I like."

In another interview with i-D, Olivia stated that her debut was going to be very versatile, and would have "a lot of angst, heartbreak and insecurity woven into the lyrics." She revealed that "all of my songs are about my experience being a teenager and figuring life out".

From March 15 to 18, Olivia teased the second single from the album on her Instagram by posting cryptic teasers of lyrics. On March 19, she released "Brutal" along with a music video. During the music video premiere, Olivia revealed that she was going to release an album instead of an extended play.

On April 16, Olivia revealed that she would be releasing new music soon, through her Instagram. On April 20, Olivia revealed that pre-orders for the album would be available on April 23, along with limited edition merchandise. On April 22, Olivia posted a snippet of an unknown song, and stated that it would be released the next day. On April 23, "Hope You're Okay" was released as a promotional single, with a lyric video. On the same day, pre-orders were made available, with a temporary album title *O*R and a placeholder cover. She later announced that the album would be released on May 21, 2021.

From May 7 to 13, fans around the world, who had subscribed to Olivia's newsletter, received cryptic notes of one track from the album, entitled Journal Entries. On May 14, Olivia announced the album title to be SOUR and revealed the album cover on her social media platforms. The third and final single, "Deja Vu", was released, along with a music video.

On May 21, SOUR was released through CD, vinyl, cassette, digital download and streaming formats. Exclusive vinyl were released in stores such as JB Hi-Fi, Target, Amazon, and Walmart, along with limited edition cassettes, such as a lavender-coloured one exclusive to fans, a magenta-coloured one, exclusive to the UK, and a mint-coloured one exclusively available online.

Outtakes

 * "Beside You"
 * "Gross"
 * "Move Over"
 * "New Feeling"
 * "Sweet Spot"

Journal Entries
From May 7 to 13, Olivia released cryptic notes that featured a hidden message of a song title from the album, entitled Journal Entries, to her fans around the world, who had subscribed to her newsletter.