Olivia Rodrigo went into the writing process for her latest album, GUTS, a very different woman than she was when she wrote Sour. Mainly, because she is in fact a woman now. Rodrigo was a mere 17 years old when she wrote her debut and as a result, the raw emotion is palpable. As she has told many outlets while gearing up for the release of GUTS, she was going through her first heartbreak back then in a way only a 17-year-old could: holistically.
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“There’s a sort of wide-eyed innocence to the first album that lots of people picked up on,” Rodrigo told Phoebe Bridgers in a recent piece in Interview Magazine. That innocence made her name. Her fellow teens identified with her pure expression. When you are that young, feeling the expanse of your emotions is far less of a choice than it is when you’re older. Aging is coupled with rationalization. Can you write such rich, emotionally cutting songs (like what we hear on Sour) if you’re bridled by rationalization? This was a fear of Rodrigo’s while going into GUTS.
“I kind of freaked out this time being like, ‘Oh my god, I don’t have this 17-year-old heartbreak that everyone’s had,'” Rodrigo continued in her conversation with Bridgers. “My life is different now.”
It’s a fair fear. When you are known for being relatable, losing that connection could be a career killer. She took a leap with the album’s lead single, “vampire,” which is more-or-less a commentary on fame and the leech-like relationships that come along with it. The majority of her fans cannot relate to that scenario, nevertheless, she seems to have pulled off the jump from typical teen to superstar eloquently.
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It’s a testament to Rodrigo’s songwriting. She manages to be true to herself (which means singing about things like fame and growing up in front of the world) while still allowing her fans to identify with the basic emotions behind those things: anxiety, heartbreak, and insecurity.
Of course, she includes a number of songs that anyone could relate to. In “bad idea right?” she muses about hanging out with an ex, which many of us have been guilty of. In “pretty isn’t pretty” she opens up about self-image and the ugly side of us that is always looking for more. In “love is embarrassing” the boy she likes makes a fool out of her, which prompts an all-too-familiar tinge in our hearts.
The album is the perfect demonstration of where Rodrigo is in life right now: Stuck somewhere between being a young adult learning to find her place and being a powerful established force in pop.
The sonic direction she began with Sour is continued on GUTS, but it is definitely leveled up. She wears her Alanis Morissette and Avril Lavigne inspirations on her sleeve, revving up guitars and pounding drums. The punky spoken-word delivery she wowed the world with on “bad idea right?” is carried throughout the project. It adds a healthy amount of attitude that was ultimately softened on Sour.
A couple of the songs have already started to spark some discourse. “lacy” and it’s allusion to a female subject have had fans wondering if it is a statement on Rodrigo’s sexuality. Like ribbons in your hair, my stomach’s all in knots / You got the one thing that I want, she reservedly sings in the chorus.
Elsewhere “the grudge” has fans pointing fingers at a certain pop superstar whom Rodrigo has been rumored to be on the outs with. You built me up to watch me fall / You have everything and you still want more, Rodrigo spits out.
It seems a Rodrigo release can not come and go without a measure of drama attached to it. Her fans are invested. They naturally want to dig into the stories behind the lyrics, which sometimes can brush up some unwanted attention for Rodrigo or the presumed subjects of her songs. Her first major release, “drivers license,” was a buzzy one. That same type of attention seems to have followed Rodrigo into her GUTS era.
Despite the rumor mill, both songs should be heralded for Rodrigo’s soft touch and searing lyricism. Though Twitter will likely continue passing off hypotheticals as truth for the foreseeable future, if we can stress one thing about GUTS it’s the pure songwriting chops that are underneath it all.
A standout from the record is the final track, “teenage dream.” It’s essentially Rodrigo’s statement of purpose. She attempts to shed her teen star roots and move into adulthood without anyone hoping to hold her back. But I fear that they already got all the best parts of me / And I’m sorry that I couldn’t always be your teenage dream, she belts in the chorus. The song is a slow build. It culminates in a powerful wall of sound that earns Rodrigo a rewarding final bow on GUTS.
Rodrigo is not the same artist who recorded Sour and it’s not a bad thing. She’s stuck to the sound that gave her a career in the first place but hasn’t been afraid to run a little wild at times. She cuts a little deeper, hits a little harder, and enters adulthood with a new edge.
(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
