It seems Robert Smith will be hearing Olivia Rodrigo‘s new single “Drop Dead” for the first time today, despite being referenced on the synth-heavy track. “You know all the words to ‘Just Like Heaven’/And I know why he wrote them now that you’re standing right here,” the pop star sings in the first verse.
In a new interview for Apple Music 1’s New Music Daily with Zane Lowe, Rodrigo was asked about Smith’s reaction to track, given those lines. “Oh my god. I actually don’t know if I played it for him. He might hear it today,” she responded with genuine surprise. “I played him a bunch of other songs on the album,” she added, referring to her forthcoming LP You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love.
Last summer, Smith joined Rodrigo onstage for her memorable Glastonbury set to sing a couple of the Cure‘s Eighties hits, including “Friday I’m in Love” and “Just Like Heaven.” “I adore him and obviously have gotten a chance to kind of get to know him a little bit over the past year,” Rodrigo told Lowe.
She went on to recount “one of [her] favourite memories” from the night of the performance. “I wore a t-shirt for the encore that said, ‘You know all the words to “Just Like Heaven”‘ because I knew that the song was coming out and I wanted to like do a little Easter egg,” she said. “I walked backstage to do the quick change and I found out that Robert took a Sharpie at the bottom of my shirt and said, ‘Or do you?’ I was like, ‘Oh my god, like he graffitied on this shirt. There’s 100,000 people out there. Am I going to go out in this shirt that like has this thing on it?’” Rodrigo continued: “I was kind of freaking out and I was like whatever, I’m just going to put it on. Honestly, it’s like my favourite outfit I’ve ever worn.”
Smith hasn’t shared his thoughts on “Drop Dead” with the public just yet, but as a known fan, and friend, of Rodrigo’s, he’s probably excited. “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,” he wrote to British Vogue for Rodrigo’s cover story. Smith added, “I can’t wait to hear what she does next!”
From Rolling Stone US
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