Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS (Review)
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| GUTS / 8 Sept 2023 / Geffen Records |
In 2021, I wasn’t ready for Olivia Rodrigo. I found myself drawn to the encapsulating storytelling of “drivers license”, and to the addictive groove of “jealousy, jealousy”, but the majority of SOUR passed me by, dismissible hollow and self-absorbed pop music. Or so I thought. One heartbreak later and it clicked. GUTS became my most anticipated pop album of the year, and upon its release Olivia has cemented her place in the pop canon, with a knack for lyrics that puts her head and shoulders above her contemporaries.
The triumph of Rodrigo’s songwriting is not found in the memorable hooks, though the album is littered with them. It isn’t found in the bombastic guitars, nor in the versatile piano segments, though they are marvellous. No, the appeal here is first and foremost in Olivia’s charmingly witty storytelling and her penchant for relevant details. Whether its in the performance antics of “bad idea right?”, with its delightful stops and vocal interplay, or in the quippy self-awareness of “get him back!”, Olivia provides a masterclass in entertaining writing.
Moreover, on GUTS there is a notable shift towards more maturity, with the faux-depth of SOUR’s classic teenage heartbreak stories replaced with more piercing takes on growing up, the wild chaos of the parties coming to life in the album’s denser indie rock numbers, whilst the ballads offer a sobering look at life after the party’s over. This duality is reminiscent of Lorde’s sophomore effort Melodrama, a similar progression for last decade’s young pop princess, with reality always catching up to Rodrigo as she battles through feelings of inadequacy and imposter syndrome, recurring themes that form the basis to the album’s strongest songs.
Whilst the whiplash of this sobering up lends itself to the transition between “ballad of a homeschooled girl” and “making the bed”, the sequencing of the album is jarring at times, particularly around “vampire”, a phenomenal lead single that suffers in the context of the album due to its placement. It is arguably the most sonically distinctive song on the album, and should be its centrepiece, but it comes too early in the tracklist and its impact is unfortunately diminished.
Minor gripe aside, the variation across the album is generally one of its strengths, with fewer ballads and more pop-rock than SOUR, helping to elevate the energy and deliver a more consistently fun listening experience, without sacrificing the emotional core that attracts so many to the music. Undeniably however, all of the aforementioned pop-rock influences make for some of the best songs here, with Olivia’s higher production budget for album #2 providing more grit and bite in the guitars, and richer arrangements all around, a clear step up from SOUR.
All in all, Olivia Rodrigo has not disappointed, coming through with what is already a staple album for my generation, expanding her sound and audience and proving once again that teen pop can be smart and layered and worth taking seriously. Whilst not a perfect project, she pretty much makes progress across the board from her first album, and I hope to see the same thing again with album #3 - the potential is there for something truly monumental, only time will tell. For now though, this is an excellent project that will be on repeat rotation for, oh, I don’t know, ever?
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