Two years after the release of Olivia Rodrigo’s three-time Grammy winning debut album “Sour,” the 20 year old global pop sensation returns, now under a dark purple glow of teenage angst in her sophomore album “GUTS”.
Rodrigo’s new album consists of twelve tracks, each highlighting the growing pains of being a teenager. From falling in love with the wrong person and learning through that heartbreak to the anxious feelings of wondering if you’ll ever live up to people’s expectations, “GUTS” accurately represents the raw and emotional sentiments of getting older.
To start off Rodrigo’s new album is a song with a pop-rock, angsty beat representing Rodrigo’s pent up anger of being appreciative and optimistic all the time. This song was the perfect song to start her new album, as it showcased Rodrigo’s classic upbeat style of music, but it also showed the new rock side of her album perfectly, making me truly feel immersed into her new era of music.
To continue her story, she takes us on an emotional rollercoaster through her songs, ”vampire”, “the grudge”, and “logical,” through the songs touching upon the self-loathing and looming self-hatred that follows a breakup. The songs are almost similar to the themes seen in “favorite crime”, and “enough for you” from her first album, as they carry the same heavy and emotional themes of being hurt by love. However, in “GUTS” the songs are painted with more sadness and emotion, as we hear more instrumental notes through pianos instead of in her first album the strumming of a guitar. The lyrics, “we both drew blood but, man, those cuts were never equal” also demonstrates much more hurt that almost stabs her listeners in the heart, as the lyrics and instruments used in her new songs take on a whole new meaning.
Rodrigo’s anger and angst make an appearance once again but in a way that’s completely different from her opening song through her next pair of songs, “get him back” and “love is embarrassing.” The songs are very similar to “good 4 u,” and “deja vu” as they carry the same resentful and angry upbeat melodies. However, her new songs carry more electric sounds and hard hitting drums, illustrating the angry yearning feelings of revenge and wanting to throw away all of the memories you shared with that person.
Her final song “teenage dream” is the cherry on top of “GUTS”. Through the shaky and repeating melody, Rodrigo showcases the back and forth emotions that come with not knowing what to do in life, when you’re stuck and transitioning to your next phase in life. Rodrigo ended her album the same way she did in “Sour,” with a bittersweet fade out outro, and the sound of her conversing and laughing as she closes out on another era.
“GUTS” truly is the perfect culmination of teenage angst, heartbreak, and pressure. As a huge Olivia Rodrigo fan, this album truly exceeded all my expectations and more, as I felt like this was the first time I truly connected with her music and everything she was conveying in every song.
