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Olivia Rodrigo, America’s most brutal sweetheart, released her highly anticipated sophomore album, “GUTS,” on Friday.

The album mixes early 2000s pop punk with slower ballads emphasizing her poetic lyricism. Rodrigo sticks to her charmingly messy aesthetic by consistently referencing her public life with possible ties to other celebrities such as Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift. It’s a fun listen, and definitely more evolved than her previous record, but can be repetitive both in message and sound.

Rodrigo released “vampire,” the album’s lead single, in June. The song is one of the album’s less energetic tracks, only picking up pace during the bridge. The song departs from her typical relatability, openly discussing her life as a superstar. While it reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Rodrigo again fell short due to the song’s slower pace and lack of energy. Rodrigo had a similar problem throughout the majority of “SOUR.”

Later in the summer, Rodrigo released her second single from the album, “bad idea, right?” in August, giving fans hope of more pop punk to come.

The album starts off with the track, “all-american b*tch,” telling her story of going from a Disney star in 2019 to the moody singer she is today. The entire album is a commentary on the unrealistic expectations for women, and the opening track sets the tone. Rodrigo sings that, “I am built like a mother and a total machine,” emphasizing that women are meant to be both soft and feminine while constantly taking care of the needs of others.

A later, much slower track, “pretty isn’t pretty,” continues this message, commenting on the heavy expectations of beauty on women. This concept is supported by virtually every song on the album, exemplifying an older Rodrigo.

While the track is solid musically, throughout her discography Rodrigo consistently lacks nuance in her lyrics regarding society’s effect on women. It technically mentions the issues at hand, but she falls short on providing any sort of guidance for her teen listeners.

In the second line of “pretty isn’t pretty,” Rodrigo sings that “I started to skip lunch, stopped eatin’ cake on birthdays.” Instead of offering insight or advice to her younger listeners, the final verse simply states, “No, it’ll never change.”

While not perfect, in other ways Rodrigo’s music has shown improvement, mainly in her ability to lean into pop punk sounds.

“GUTS” covers more mature topics such as partying, jealousy and toxic relationships, most notably in the track, “get him back!” She sings about these new habits, writing about “another song, another club, another bar, another dance.”

The song describes a back and forth between loving and hating a previous boyfriend. The title, “get him back!,” both explains the feeling of wanting to get back together with an ex, and wanting to get back at him for treating her badly.

The song is the highlight of the album, playing into her best musical abilities. The lyrics are creepily accurate to the feelings of jealousy, love and betrayal after a messy breakup with a bad partner.

”I wanna get him back. I wanna make him really jealous, wanna make him feel bad. Oh, I wanna get him back. ‘Cause then again, I really miss him, and it makes me real sad. Oh, I want sweet revenge, and I want him again,” Rodrigo sings in the song’s chorus.

Rodrigo constantly toes the line between edgy and problematic, frequently diving further into the latter. On “ballad of a homeschooled girl” Rodrigo sings that “Everythin’ I do is tragic (Oh), Every guy I like is gay (Oh).” She is trying to be tongue and cheek, but it just comes off as weird.

“GUTS” shows how Rodrigo is continuing to create a name for herself in the music industry by incorporating reminiscent sounds of Avril Lavigne from the early ‘00s and lyrical wordsmiths such as Taylor Swift. Rodrigo allows her touch to overtake every single track, creating something that’s entirely her own. But, her faux-deep sentiments show in virtually every track, leaving listeners enjoying the beat and ignoring the meaning.

Published on September 18, 2023 at 10:43 pm