Two years ago, Olivia Rodrigo, one of the most popular up-and-coming pop stars released her debut album SOUR. Now, she’s released her second studio album GUTS, but it’s essentially the same album twice in a row. Here’s why Olivia Rodrigo’s album gave us “deja vu.”
The 20-year-old star has been in the limelight since her debut on Disney Channel in 2016. However, she only recently has been releasing music. Her debut album SOUR combines heartbreak ballads and teenage angst with compelling lyrics and well-done production. When released, the album topped the charts in several countries and sold over 1.4 million copies, leaving many fans eagerly awaiting her next release.
GUTS, her second studio album, has arrived, featuring grunge-esque beats, heartbreak ballads and poetic lyrics. However, it really isn’t anything different from SOUR. The sound is the same, the lyrics and themes are similar and all around, it’s all the same. For two years in the making, there could have been more growth in her music. It’s clear that she didn’t want to move away from what she knew worked for her — after all, SOUR was a phenomenal album — but it would have been nice to see her continue to grow and experiment with more.
The album itself muddles together as it’s hard to separate and isolate songs. For example, the first two songs on the album, “all-american bitch” and “bad idea right?” have similar sounds: both are up-beat and feature a chorus where Rodrigo is simply yelling, making it hard to differentiate between the two songs. Especially in “all-american bitch,” it is extremely difficult to understand what Rodrigo is saying because she is essentially screaming into the microphone. The production on a lot of the songs hides her lyrics as well, which is arguably the best part of her music.
Being the songwriter she is, Rodrigo’s lyrics in GUTS are just as beautiful and poetic as they’ve always been. In the song “the grudge,” Rodrigo says, “And I know in my heart, hurt people, hurt people, and we both drew blood, but, man, those cuts were never equal.” This lyric is compelling and perfectly captures what it’s like to be hurt by someone, especially knowing issues were caused on both sides.
Similarly, in her song “making the bed,” Rodrigo says, “And I’m playing the victim so well in my head, but it’s me who’s been making the bed.” She takes the common saying “you made your bed, now lay in it” and relates it to self-hatred and owning up to mistakes. There’s no doubt that Rodrigo is an incredible songwriter and lyricist, and GUTS continues to showcase her ability to write relatable and beautiful lyrics.
Essentially, this is an album written by a teenager for teenagers. It contains themes of heartbreak, friendships and other universal and common teenage experiences. But, overall, the album wasn’t anything special or revolutionary. Lyrically, Rodrigo did, in fact, spill her GUTS, but the music production went SOUR.