After teasing new music earlier this week, Olivia Rodrigo has shared a new track, “Bad Idea Right?” The song follows her impending album’s lead single, “Vampire.”
Videos by American Songwriter
“‘Bad Idea Right?’ started with us making a joke song about me hooking up with an ex-boyfriend, but
then we realized we were actually onto something,” Rodrigo said in a statement. “We were throwing the weirdest things at the wall—in one of the choruses there’s a part that sounds like an instrument in the background, but it’s me gradually screaming louder and louder.”
“Bad Idea Right?” stands in stark contrast to “Vampire.” While the latter is a sweeping, dramatic piano ballad, her latest release has a playful energy about it. In the lyrics, Rodrigo is reunited with her ex despite her better judgment. Rodrigo proliferates her name-making lyricism while frequent collaborator Daniel Nigro applies his expert touch to the production.
[RELATED: Everything We Know About Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Guts’ Album]
For the song’s accompanying music video, Rodrigo tapped Petra Collins, who has directed a number of her visuals. Collins was also the director for the cinematic “Vampire” video.
The video for “Bad Idea Right?” was inspired by ’90s B-movie horror-comedies. Rodrigo harrowingly makes her way to her ex’s house in a journey that is described as “equal parts surreal and fantastically absurd.”
Check out the visual, below.
“Bad Idea Right?” will feature on Rodrigo’s sophomore album, Guts. The project is set to arrive on September 8. Rodrigo promises the album will continue her string of teen-angst-fueled songs.
“I feel like I grew 10 years between the ages of 18 and 20—it was such an intense period of awkwardness and change,” Rodrigo said in a statement. “I think that’s all just a natural part of growth, and hopefully the album reflects that. I made the bulk of this album during my 19th year on this earth. A year that, for me, was filled with lots of confusion, mistakes, awkwardness & good old fashioned teen angst.”
Rodrigo has not yet revealed if more singles will be shared prior to the album’s release.
Photo courtesy of Zamar Velez / UMusic
