It was May of 2021 when pop star Olivia Rodrigo released her first, and Grammy Award winning album, Sour. The world was buzzing with talk of the young actress and singer. Rodrigo was relatively unknown aside from her roles in Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Series, but since then, she has built an extremely successful career. Although Sour was her debut album, everybody instantly fell in love with her music and the world has known her name ever since.
Sour was extraordinarily diverse in terms of the themes of each song on the album. With such a wide array of topics covered, there was a song for everyone to relate to. The lyrics ranged from her recent heartbreak, to what it is like to be a teenage girl in this generation, to thinking back to people she had met in the past.
After Sour was released, a substantial amount of time passed by without any news from her. People waited and waited, still with no sign of an album announcement anytime in the future. Over two years later, a light at the end of the tunnel began to shine bright. On June 13th, Rodrigo announced the release of a new single called Vampire, and then thirteen days later, proceeded to announce the release of a whole new album, Guts,” set to drop on September 8th, 2023.
In Vampire, Rodrigo expresses her very clear feelings of regret and anger towards whoever the subject of the song is, describing them as someone who had used and taken advantage of her. She did this by comparing the subject to a vampire, calling them a “blood sucker” and connecting it back to how interacting with this person had drained and tormented her. It is safe to say that fans have their expectations set high for Rodrigo’s new album. After the whole rave that preceded the release of Sour, everyone was waiting in anticipation for new content, and that anticipation has only built up over the past couple of years.
Guts as the new album title was not shocking considering the name of the lead single. It made sense because it kept with the spooky and mysterious theme that the initial release had encompassed. What Vampire would be about was a complete mystery to most, although fans kept their full trust in her because of how much of a hit her previous album had become. Luckily, they had nothing to worry about, because Vampire turned out to be a fan favorite. It had climbed up to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Global 200, making Rodrigo the first woman to have had 3 No. 1 debuts.
Some of the song titles in Guts may lead people to question what the contents of the songs are when examining the tracklist, such as the titles ballad of a homeschooled girl or love is embarrassing. Oftentimes, song titles can be allusions or references to other things that only the song’s lyrics can piece together. Many people are interested to hear her new music because of this. When Rodrigo released Sour, she was 17. Now that she’s older, people are expecting new, and exciting lyrics that go along with the new season of life she has transitioned into since then.
With that being said, people have much to anticipate waiting for the arrival of Guts. 11 new songs are to be released and fans are very enthusiastic to finally get a new album. Olivia Rodrigo did not disappoint with her debut album, and it would not be out of this world to think that Guts will be even more spectacular.
