By Kavi Shahnawaz
Olivia Rodrigo, the singer-songwriter starring in “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” signed with Geffen and Interscope Records back in 2020 to begin her solo career. She has quickly established herself as a household name at just 20 years old with 50 million monthly listeners on Spotify and a multitude of hit singles, starting with her record-shattering first release in January 2021 known as “driver’s license.” Her debut album “SOUR” was released later that year to critical acclaim and huge commercial success. She recently put out her sophomore album, “GUTS,” on September 8, 2023, and it is already set to match and potentially outdo the spectacular performance of her first project. Various fans and critics alike consider this album an improvement from her last, since its greater level of depth encapsulated her growth as an artist.
In a YouTube video by WIRED, Rodrigo shares that she intentionally chose the name “GUTS” for this record because it is both interesting and loaded. She explains that, depending on the context, “guts” can refer to bravery, intuition, hatred, or the spilling of dirty little secrets. The multi-faceted nature of this word is certainly reflected by her range in this body of work. With just over 39 minutes worth of growing pains laid out across 12 tracks, “GUTS” tells a complex tale of late-stage teenagehood, diving deep into the ugly, awkward, and life-altering moments that underpin existence in the gray area of human development. At age 19, many feel old enough to no longer socially feel like a kid but are still legally underage and left with a lot to learn about the real world.
“Her songs show a lot of rage but also a lot of melancholy,” said first-year Alexis Leone.
Although only two years passed between the two albums, Rodrigo seemingly crafted “GUTS” through a much darker and more mature lens than “SOUR,” which lines up with her recent statement that she feels as if she “grew ten years between the ages of 18 and 20.” Looking at album covers alone, “GUTS” takes the lavender motif from its predecessor but is muddied to stress that although she is the same person at her core, the unimaginable pressure from all angles has turned her into more of a cynic. Additionally, to match this grungier tone and convey the aforementioned meanings of “guts,” she gets more experimental in genre and subject matter here than in “SOUR.” By going to vulnerable and symbolic places in which she did not previously traverse, she earned herself a myriad of people who relate deeply to her metaphoric retellings of her lived experiences.
“[The songs] go from jamming out to ‘I’m really sad,’” said first-year Felecia Hummel.
Such a sentiment holds true for Y2K, pop-punk inspired “all-american b—,” the first song of the set. There is a clear tonal shift in the outro to demonstrate the intense conflict between her frustration over societal expectations of her and her undying feeling of necessity to fit those expectations. Rodrigo sings, “I know my age, and I act like it,” which she later contradicts at the halfway point of the album, “making the bed,” by singing, “Another day pretendin’ I’m older than I am.” Her opposing statements highlight her instinct to act based on varying situations, attempting to survive the social scene unscathed.
Artwork by Anna Leonard
The muddied lavender color of the album "GUTS" represents Rodrigo's cynicism regarding late teenagehood.
Maintaining a facade soon causes an identity crisis, which culminates in the last track, “teenage dream,” where Rodrigo’s breakdown ends with an unanswered question. When she sings, “It gets better, but what if I don’t?,” it represents her insecurities and realization that she doesn’t have all the answers, a feeling that resonates with many Gen Z folks. Within this overarching theme, she unpacks varying contradictory emotions that further contextualize life as a young woman approaching her twenties in a society that feels paradoxical. For example, her third single, “get him back!,” has straightforward, self-incriminating lyrics over a catchy beat to depict impulsivity and act as a foil to her poetic, reflective approach on dramatic ballads like “vampire.” Another fan favorite from “GUTS” is “lacy,” an angelic earworm underlined by commentary on her struggles with self-image. Rodrigo truly rides the highs and the lows, going from poking fun at the absurdity of social conventions in “ballad of a homeschooled girl,” to opening up about her battle with eating disorders in “pretty isn’t pretty,” both of which are pieces of nuance that she did not include in “SOUR.”
Since the songs on this record differ quite a bit from each other, many heavily prefer certain tracks and entirely skip over other ones. Still, “GUTS” is drenched with raw talent, hilarious sarcasm, and shocking relatability. It has at least one song that most people will be able to enjoy, and every story is told from a more insightful perspective than what was presented in “SOUR.”
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