After the former Disney Channel actress rose to a new level of fame with SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo has returned with her sophomore album, GUTS. With this, she has carried over many themes from her debut, the overarching one being her journey through adolescence. This entails many, many songs about heartbreak and heartache, as was the case on SOUR. However, this album marks some thematic evolution, with Rodrigo expanding her horizons to deal with issues such as body image on “pretty isn’t pretty”. She also displays much more fragility than was shown on SOUR, an important step in artistry.

Sonically, GUTS is somewhat similar to Rodrigo’s debut, with the one major change being the increase in upbeat, louder songs—bringing a more rebellious feeling. For me, this is a welcome change, as her more energetic songs suit her, outshining the slower ballads. The main issue that I take up with the slower songs lies in the lyrical content. She tends to include lyrics that try to appear overly relatable or deep in a lot of the songs, but end up sounding corny. With a stripped-back piano instrumental, these lyrics are forced to carry a lot more weight than they should. This is apparent on tracks like “lacy” and “making the bed” that just seem bland and undeveloped.

The good thing is that the angsty lyrics mesh perfectly with the power pop instrumentals. Personally, Rodrigo’s most appealing songs have been the ones like “good 4 u”, which are loud and anthemic. My favorite tracks, “all-american b****” and “ballad of a homeschooled girl”, display these bass-heavy instrumentals where Rodrigo truly shines the most. These are her most vocally powerful, and allow her to display the essence of the album by expressing these emotions to the fullest. My favorite part of any track in the entire album has to be the vocals on “all-american b****”, which are excellent for both the chorus and the verses. 

As a whole, GUTS has its moments, but is weighed down by its bland or excessively sentimental lyrics. It’s aggressively targeted towards the teenage demographic, too much so in my opinion. For some, the lyrics strike a chord, but I don’t see the appeal. I do like most of the instrumentals and vocals, but the overall product is just alright.

Favorite Songs: all-american b****, ballad of a homeschooled girl

Least Favorite Songs: lacy, making the bed

Rating: 5.5/10