On Sept. 8, the popular and young artist, Oliva Rodrigo, dropped her sophomore album: “Guts”. Rodrigo’s last album, “Sour”, was on the Billboard Top 200 for a total of five weeks, so fans were expecting a lot out of her new album.
On her new album, Rodrigo continued to write soulful ballads about topics her fans can relate to while also making pop and punk songs like her single “Bad Idea, Right” which is currently sitting at over a million streams. Rodrigo also shocked fans when she released her first single off the album “Vampire” which leads the listeners through a slow, somber start, but then ends with a punk-rock feel. The artist continues to expand her discography and impress her fans considering she now has 12 songs on the Billboard Hot 100.
As Rodrigo matures, so does her music which is shown when she discusses new themes throughout the album. Rodrigo talks about struggling socially in her song “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl” which many of her fans can relate too. She also discusses problems of a teenage girl in the song “Pretty Isn’t Pretty Enough” where she sings about comparing herself to other people and societal standards put on women. Rodrigo does a good job at mixing her serious and not so serious topics in her album. My personal favorite song is “Get Him back!” where she experiences conflicting feelings about a past relationship and uses the phrase “get him back” in different opposing ways. Overall, Rodrigo lyricism and instruments on this album are top tier and she truly shows how good of a songwriter she is.
With the success of the album so far, Rodrigo announced a tour in 2024. With the recent popularity of female pop artists touring, like Taylor Swift, many fans were very excited about the new tour. Her “Guts: World Tour” sold out on Ticketmaster, but starting in February of 2024 she will be selling “Silver Star” tickets where you can buy a ticket for only $20, so fans might still get the chance to get tickets. Hopefully, this tour will be just as great as the last and will leave fans excited and coming back for more.
Overall, Rodrigo blew her fans away with this album and truly proved she can expand out of her sad, ballad bubble and explore new genres. Rodrigo’s talent goes way beyond her singing and hopefully, we will see more of her in the future with the release of more music for years to come. There was a lot of pressure on Rodrigo after the success of her last album, but I truly think that she lived up to her expectations and released a great album.
