OLIVIA RODRIGO you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (Geffen) — Now three albums deep into a pop career built on bold, brash, wildly catchy songs about the misery of modern romance, Olivia Rodrigo knows how to tell a story. Her new full-length, the fabulously titled you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, has an arc to it. The sentiment of the songs moves roughly from the dizzying heat of developing desire to the bitter dregs of disappointment and heartbreak. In this framework, Rodrigo delivers the sort of smart, funny, slyly adventurous songs that have carried her to the one of the highest peaks of the pop girlie mountain range. Working with her regular producer and songwriting partner Dan Nigro (relatively new music friend Amy Allen shares writing credit on about half the songs), Rodrigo drop a string of spectacular jabs: “drop dead,” with its up-to-date consideration of how fascination builds (“Oh, one night I was bored in bed/ And stalked you on the internet”); “stupid song” and its nifty meta ingenuity (“I’m a car speeding down the boulevard without a brake/ And I love you more than any stupid song could ever say”); and the swelling “the cure.” The nineteen-nineties pop-punk sensibility of her early albums remains present, and it’s joined by a relatively newfound fascination with the most beloved hits of a decade earlier. There’s a dark, percolating fervor that suggests a softened version of early New Order on “maggots for brains,” and “expectations” is as close as Rodrigo has come to new wave. It’s no wonder that she invites Robert Smith to hop onto a track, the thrilling “what’s wrong with me.” There’s no doubt that Rodrigo is still swinging high. Get happy with these cuts: “u + me = <3,” “my way,” “less,” and “cigarette smoke.”

IZZY ORAM BROWN What I Want (Self-Released) — Izzy Oram Brown finds a fascinating zone on What I Want, her sophomore full-length. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter achieves a sort of dreaminess across the nine tracks here, but that doesn’t mean she’s adrift. Like some of her truest indie predecessors, Brown realizes that the most honest emotions hit harder with less adornment. “If I’m Not Made for Love” is like early, minimalist Mitski, right down to the lyrics that cut deep enough to sever nerves (“If I’m not made for love/ Why am I wasting all my time?/ Though the Earth keeps spinning ‘round/ Love is nowhere to be found”). There’s a consistent artfulness to the material here, as if Brown is striving for perfection in every note and beat. It’s heard in the easy, finely rendered indie pop of “Got Me Down” and the deeply tender “Go On.” There aren’t many current artists who merit comparisons to Suzanne Vega’s foundational work, but then “I Don’t Mind” comes through the headphones sounding all precise and lovely. What I Want is a pierce of pure expression. Check out these desirable tracks: “What Is Wanting Worth,” “When There’s Nothing Left,” and “I Believe.”