Joshua Bassett Is Set Free from "Sour" Crisis

Am I one to care about the alleged breakup of celebrities? I would like to say no, but my search history begs otherwise. 

There are two sides to every story and Joshua Bassett seems determined to prove that now. The twenty year old singer just released his three song EP that seems to be a direct response to Olivia Rodrigo’s album “Sour”. 

If you live under a rock or are above the age of 25, here’s a quick sum up of the drama. The internet exploded back in May when Rodrigo released her album that chronicled teenage angst and heartbreak. The album was a total hit, with it appearing on many a Spotify Wrapped as a top album. At the time of its release, many people tied the album back to Rodrigo’s supposed relationship with Joshua Bassett. A lot of her songs strongly alluded to their alleged relationship and people were all for the drama. TikTok trends were made, sides were taken, and battle lines drawn. 

Sabrina Carpenter was also dragged into the mix as Rodrigo’s song “Driver’s License” had a line that goes “and you’re probably with that blonde girl” that targeted her and Basset’s then relationship. Carpenter responded with a song of her own and Bassett did release a called single “Lie, Lie, Lie” a while ago that seemed to be a response to Rodrigo. However, now it appears it’s Basset’s time to shine and tell his full story. 

Bassett starts off his trio of singles with “Crisis” and it definitely seems like a call out track for Rodrigo. After “Sour” took over the internet, teenagers everywhere were fully on #TeamOlivia and Bassett was getting slammed online. Referencing this crisis he was facing, Bassett starts the song off with “my label said never waste a crisis”. We’re about ten months past the “Sour” crisis, but better late than never, I guess.
Basset continues with “I didn’t want to write this” but “ if you get to tell your truth, then so do I”. Basset’s gearing up for his side of the story, but first reminisces on the terrible treatment that he received online over the past year. “My mama callеd 'cause she heard I got dеath threats”. Ouch. That’s a hard line to digest and it really shows just how hard things were for Bassett. Nobody should ever have to deal with that. 
The chorus is the real kicker though. In his supposed calling out of Rodrigo, he sings “Don't you dare act like I didn't love you”. He wonders if she even cares about him after the fact. The two lines that really drive the nail in are “Messin' with my life as a career move” and “You would never dare to waste a crisis”. Shots fired. Now that we’re all collectively oohing, he takes it even further in the bridge “Weren't you the one who left in the first place?Weren't you the one who called things off?” 
Seeing as Rodrigo painted herself as the victim throughout her album, this line adds a twist to the story. Bassett is picking himself up off the ground and getting on an equal level with Rodrigo here. Calling out the “Sour” star for being the one to break it off and then using their supposed relationship as a career move is a strong statement. Bassett’s still got 2 more songs to bring the heat. 

The next song in the trio is “Secret”. This song takes on a darker tone than the previous track. The music video starts off by showing a white car, which is very significant. Ring the alarm bells. The car is a direct parallel to Rodrigo’s song “Driver’s License”. Rodrigo’s music video for that song also starts off with a car being shown and contains the lyric “I still see your face in the white cars”. We’re diving right in with no subtlety. 
In this track, Bassett promises to keep someone’s *cough cough supposedly Olivia’s, secret. It seems someone’s not being completely faithful, as he sings the lines “Swore that you only had a crush, You told me that you would cut him off”.
 In the chorus, he points out that everybody knows, but “Don't worry, 'cause I'm keepin' my mouth closed. Yeah, your sеcret's safe with me”. Oof. Imagine knowing that your significant other has a thing for someone else and everybody knows, but you still choose to keep that a secret. That’s rough buddy. 
The song continues with verse two starting with this line. “I rеally hope you had your fun, good for you foolin' everyone”. People have pointed out the words “good for you” may allude to Rodrigo’s breakup anthem “good 4 u”. 
In the bridge, Bassett again calls out this career move that may be “Sour” with the lines “When your "Woe is me" stops workin' I bet your songs won't sound the same”. With a song that twists the narrative even further, Bassett is really starting to make a case for himself. The bridge seems almost like a challenge for Rodrigo to put out a song that doesn’t cast her as the victim. 

Bassett pulls back a bit in the final song “Set Me Free”. Out of the three tracks, this is my favorite instrumentally. I’m a sucker for strings and the orchestral sound combined with the choir-like vocals in the chorus is beautiful. 
Starting off with a #nooffense line he sings “I don't wanna be rude or on the defensive” and he acknowledges the hurt that he caused the other side and says “I'd take it all back if I could”. Clap, clap for accountability. 
In the chorus, Bassett pleads to be set free. “You don't get to take all of me (Set me free)...I don't recognize you, not anymore. You're not the love that I fell for”. Verse two neatly brings it back to the first song “Crisis” with the lines “I've been runnin' away, I've been facin' my fears. Tell my mama I'm okay while I'm holdin' back tears. It's been a fuckin' year”. 
We’re going back to the pain Basset has felt over the past year, that’s been swept under the rug by the noise around the “Sour” album. 
Finally in the bridge, Bassett seems to put this all to rest with the lines “But I've gotta lock the door and throw away the key. And I hope you know that I still care about you, darlin'. I won't ever let you hurt me how you hurt me.” 

With that, Bassett’s story comes to an end. Let’s all remember that these songs are exaggerated creative outlets for people and that we can’t take them at face value. With that disclaimer, it’s nice to hear another perspective and perhaps get another piece of the puzzle. I do have to say that I wonder if these songs would have gotten the same buzz had they not been viewed as a response to Rodrigo? If you look back at comments from Bassett’s, Rodrigo’s, and Carpenter’s song releases from about ten months ago, the comments point to what a genius marketing move this may have been for all of them. Personally, I don’t think it’s a marketing move. I just think we have three very talented artists who are using their songs as a creative outlet for their emotions. Everything has to be taken with a grain of salt though. Will I be listening to Bassett’s singles for the rest of the week and obsessing? Yes, yes I will. 

Listen to Joshua Basset’s music here.