Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields festival is set for this weekend, and ahead of the celebrations she has released a fresh track inspired by The Handmaid’s Tale. “Serena Joy” takes its name from a character in both the book and its TV adaptation—a former Christian media figure married to a high-ranking government official—who grows to regret her role in the United States’ slide toward a Christo-fascist military regime. The song initially appeared over the weekend as a limited-edition CD single sold solely at Orange County’s Analog Record Shop, near the festival grounds of Great Park in Irvine, California.
Now the track is available digitally. “Serena Joy” was laid down during the sessions for Rodrigo’s acclaimed new album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, and it carries some of the same new-wave textures that traverse the record. One might even call it dance-punk? In terms of crafting fresh material, she seems to be outpacing Bloc Party at this point.
Listen below.
