After two years of minimal stardom activity after releasing her debut album, SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo released her second album, GUTS on September 8. Holding true to her first album, Rodrigo surprised no one when she released the lead singles “bad idea, right?” and “vampire” adhering with her previous pop rock sound. The singles gave fans only the slightest insight of what this album would really be about. Building off of her old sound proves important to the foundational success of her album because she now can curate a more mature sound and perfect what she began with. The album flows consistently with similar backing tracks, and lyrical themes making the album feel like one consistent story.
From the beginning of freely crafting her music and moving away from acting, Olivia Rodrigo expresses herself in her newest album through her story telling. This specific storytelling is done not only through lyrics but the backing tracks and sounds that carry throughout each track. For example, track one and two flow together as track one concludes with a knocking and track two begins with a door creaking open. A detail like this encourages listening to specific tracks as well as listening to the album in order. Additionally, Rodrigo successfully incorporates concepts from her last album such as implementing her place as a rock musician using much larger elements of rock verses the more pop rock sound of SOUR. The musician’s vocals also matured, and now support a much stronger presence of variety in guitar riffs and disoriented synths. Specifically, track one experiments with an evident tempo change and shift in instrumentation as the song flows from a softer melody to a large rock sound. Additionally, track eight shows a consistent flow of the rock sound she is working with.
Spilling her guts and her innermost feelings to the world, Rodrigo ultimately fixates on the perfection of her sound, solidifying her pop rock sound. With overarching themes of regret, self loathing, and introspection the tracks emphasize the feelings putting them into a story to tell to music listeners. Each song carries such a heavy theme with bold lyrics all while sounding cohesive but not the same. Track five, “ballade of a homeschooled girl” personally stuck out through its lyrics and sound which highlights the 20-year olds experience as a teenager, attempting the unbearable weight of growing up “properly” while living an irregular life as a child actor. Rodrigo highlights the teenage experience through the persona of someone who has never found themselves and is unable to fit in; the only place she really feels at peace is when making music. Tracks such as “lacy,” “vampire,” and “the grudge” leave fans on the edge of their seats as they deep dive into the lyrics dicenting them to find out the significance behind each word and phrase.
Due to the sound she curated throughout the twelve tracks, Rodrigo’s lyricism and transition to a greater sense of rock is put in the spotlight. All emotions are on display and so is her growing talent. Only she knows what she might spill next.
Olivia Rodrigo’s “GUTS World Tour” has been announced and registration for tickets are open on her website.