Fire's Chill Pick - July 2026

 Hey everyone, it’s Fire, and you already know what time of month it is—it’s time for the monthly Chill Pick article!! So what do we have this month?


Olivia Ridgely - Lonely Planet

Release: May 6, 2026

Genres: Acoustic Rock, Pop Rock, Surf Rock, Jangle Pop

So the last time I featured Olivia Ridgely in one of these articles was May of last year for her song “Hot Cakes” (on another note, how the fuck is my review of “Blu” one of my most viewed articles ever lol). Since I last covered her, she’s dropped quite a few great songs that I was really considering covering in one of my Chill Pick articles (there were just songs I had more thoughts to spew out every time I considered it), but then she really underwhelmed me this past February with “The Grace”, which was okay, but so painfully dull. But her next release was “Lonely Planet”, which immediately hooked me in.

Musically, this is a swerve for Ridgely into more acoustic rock/pop rock territory. She rides the surf rock progression and jangle pop groove so effortlessly, with the “ooh la la la”’s being incredibly catchy! So on a sonic level alone, this is one of Ridgely’s best songs in a while, if not ever. One thing I do have to say against this song though is that Ridgely’s diction is kinda weak. Like, do you remember all the shit Ariana Grande got in the mid 2010s for her enunciation? That’s the best analogy to describe Ridgely’s delivery on this.

And that admittedly made it kinda difficult for me to decipher the lyrics of this song. The song starts with “So no one taught you how to DJ”, and then on the chorus, I thought she was saying “I will strike the note”. That made me think this was probably a song about Ridgely giving herself a pep talk to make it as a singer. Because she will strike the note and make her mark...you get what I mean?

But no, when I looked the lyrics up, I discovered that the lyric is actually “I will strike them down”, which absolutely doesn’t fit my initial reading. And then there are references to her love being a ladder and the person she’s talking to having all of her powers. Then I started looking at the song as Ridgely talking to another person and that’s when it clicked—Ridgely is singing from the perspective of God (or some sort of higher power), telling this discouraged DJ to not believe their doubts and continue pursuing their dreams. It doesn’t feel preachy, it can just as easily be read as an internal monologue of strength. So in other words, with great production that Ridgely acquits herself well with, aspirational lyrics that are rooted in belief of a higher power that don’t feel preachy, this is a great song. I’m giving this an 8/10—I can’t in good faith rate this higher because that diction is just too much for me to ignore. But still, highly recommended if the music sounds up your alley!!

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