OLIVIA RODRIGO HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

In a sea of paint by numbers pop songs, Olivia Rodrigo has become a force to be reckoned with in lightning speed, rising to the surface by setting everything that’s so boring about modern radio on fire. Her debut record, Sour, introduced her as a different kind of songwriter out of the gate, one whose music can be sarcastic, even satirical – sending up the lunacy and drama of young adulthood while remaining firmly grounded in all its agony. “And they’d all be so disappointed, because who am I if not exploited?” she wondered on that album’s opener “Brutal,” a scathing, tongue in cheek indictment of the type of alienation and anxiety that takes root so deeply in youth. But as we all find out, pressures don’t ease with time as much as they change shape, and when you consider the larger than life personality and occasional social commentary of her second album, Guts, the tenacity and turmoil of “Brutal” becomes a bellwether.

From the jump, everything is more vivid and pronounced than even the most vibrant and clever of its predecessor, capturing the attention of generations by way of a heavy heart and acid tongue. Fed by an ambitious production, imaginative arrangements and lyrics that oscillate between crestfallen and cutting, Rodrigo’s second collection resonates because it feels like a genuine expression that just so happens to have massive commercial appeal. And in an age where every communication seems to be workshopped, surveyed and curated to seduce some invisible, unknowable algorithm, sincerity alone can be profound.

In some ways, Guts almost feels like it could be a few separate albums, dividing itself in two at exactly its halfway mark. It’s a deliberate shift in tone brought on by the decision to follow the bottle rocket like momentum building throughout “All-American Bitch,” “Bad Idea Right?” and “Vampire,” with the more muted sounds of “Making The Bed,” “Logical,” “Love Is Embarrassing” and “Pretty Isn’t Pretty.” But with each listen, the contrasts between these clearly defined halves is less and less jarring until it finally isn’t, unexpectedly turning Guts into a true Side One and Side Two style release that can be both towering and understated. Though its biggest strength may lie with the sense that there is no real formula to dissect. Melodies speed up and slow down, church choir sweetness dissolves into jagged guitars and screaming vocals, and within a surge of a million different directions, an artist finds new ways to go home.

by Caitlin Phillips
10.09.2023