September 8 2023, nineteen year old singer songwriter Olivia Rodrigo released her sophomore album GUTS. The album comprises 12 hard hitting songs. In total, the album lasts 40 minutes.
The musician initially announced the upcoming new album June 26, with “Vampire”, the first single of GUTS, shortly following later that week. “Vampire” quickly climbed the charts as everyone was incredibly eager to finally stream Olivia’s new music after a two year gap from her first hit album SOUR. Anxiousness for the album’s release was increasing as the release date came closer. Many speculated she would not be able to top the renowned prior album.
It’s almost as if Olivia is allergic to making bad songs. Regardless of the new vibe and different sound Olivia experiments with, she still sticks to the teenage angst of heartbreak. Her voice has thoroughly matured and she continues to perfectly capture the essence of girlhood through the powerful words she writes.
She claims track four, “lacy,” and track twelve, “teenage dream,” as her favorites on the album. In “brutal,” the opening track of SOUR, Olivia asks where her teenage dream is and ends GUTS with a song titled teenage dream. The similarity in the two tracks signifies how she realizes she is in that dream now, but still does not feel like it lives up to her expectations. The vulnerability throughout each and every song is beautiful. Listeners can experience how much she has grown since 2021 and is open with how much she still has to learn and experience.
My top three songs on the album are “love is embarrassing,” “pretty isn’t pretty” and “the grudge.” I have not taken the album off of repeat since Friday, so it was nearly impossible to narrow down my list of favorite tracks. Teenage girls across the world, who mainly make up Olivia’s demographic, feel as though she read their diaries and made an album out of it! The album’s relatability shines through its tracks and contributes to its high levels of appeal. It can be argued Olivia Rodrigo is the pop star of our generation. I give GUTS 5/5 stars.
