Fire's Chill Pick - September 2026

 Hi everyone, it’s Fire here and it’s time for the monthly Chill Pick article!! So what track am I serving y’all up with this month?


Olivia Rodrigo - serena joy

Release: August 21, 2026

Genres: Post-Punk Revival, New Rave, New Wave, Dance-Punk Revival, Indietronica

I gotta be honest, 2026 has been a really good year for me so far. I hope everyone else is feeling the same way...

Oh...

OH.

Oh god...


Yeah, 2026 has clearly been a very turbulent year for current events, and it kinda makes me feel guilty that I’m having a really good year when so many aren’t. I kinda had to teach myself that just because you’re having a good year while so many aren’t doesn’t mean you have to deny your own self-happiness. But I can acknowledge that my experience is very far from the rule, and in such a difficult time for so many, I can imagine that people are desperately looking for a cathartic release.

And thus, we got “serena joy”, a song that Olivia Rodrigo actually recorded in the midst of creating her excellent album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love but ultimately left off since it didn’t fit. And then she dropped it as a loosey in August in promotion of her Daisy Chain Fields music festival.

And let me start with the fact that this absolutely wouldn’t have fit on that album—it’s a political song written from the perspective of the privileged and complacent folks who are willing to let authoritarians take over. And it absolutely meets the moment! Sonically, the song is this buzzing post-punk revival banger where Olivia’s vocals are laced with autotune, making the song really broil with anger. Nearly every lyric is evocative, from:


“Yeah, it's all for the cause

For the good of us all

And if you close your eyes

Then it can't be your fault”


to 


“Sing along, sing along

What they tell you to do”


to


“Have a Coke and a smile

In the hot summer bliss

Now go bother your neighbors

While we do what we wish”


I saw someone compare this song to Katy Perry’s 2017 hit “Chained To The Rhythm”, in that it almost feels like a “feel-bad pop song”. But I don’t really think it’s an apt comparison. Now truthfully, I still like “Chained To The Rhythm” a lot (I have memories of that song lol), but I absolutely get why so many don’t—it’s frothy dance-pop that actively derides you for liking the sound of the song. “serena joy” is overtly seething both sonically and lyrically—and it’s not shaming you for liking the sound of the song. If anything, the production is telling you “if you like this song, we’re in the same frame of mind—we’re fucking fed up with what’s going on in the world”. And really, the lyrics where Olivia dismantles the All-American image as a form of blissful ignorance sound like they’re daring you. It’s sarcastically telling you “Yeah, just keep blindly following your leader’s orders, because they ALWAYS act in your best interest!”. And I’m not gonna lie—the past few weeks, every time I saw a major news event that genuinely angered me (Ed Sheeran removing Macklemore from his tour and the Nepal floods, in particular), “serena joy” started playing in the back of my mind. Because YES, we’re fucking tired of all this awful shit happening and people with power refusing to do anything about it! That line about if you close your eyes it can’t be your fault really stuck with me when the controversy surrounding Ed Sheeran removing Macklemore from his tour erupted. I’m far from the first person to say this, but regardless of whether you side with Israel or Palestine, if you claim to be apolitical on genocide (AKA turning a blind eye to it to try not offending anybody), you’re not pleasing anybody—you’re being cowardly.

But overall, this absolutely wouldn’t have fit on you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (honestly it’d probably be bottom half on that album if it was on it), but “serena joy” meets the moment in such a potent way. I’ll say it—this is one of Olivia’s best songs—I give this a 10/10. Forget hot girl summers, we’re entering fascism fall. Highly recommended for anyone who needs that catharsis!!

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