Olivia Rodrigo, the former child actress turned pop superstar returns with her sophomore release. Following up her critically acclaimed debut album SOUR, which earned the young star 7 Grammy nominations and 3 wins. For any artist, following up a massively successful debut album is extremely stressful as there is added pressure of trying to create an album that surpasses their first in success, and Rodrigo managed to do just that.

Rodrigo told apple music that as she sat down to begin working on her second album, she froze, “I couldn’t sit at the piano without thinking about what other people were going to think about what I was playing.” A sophomore slump is a term that refers to when an artist's second album doesn’t live up to the expectation set by their first album either commercially or sonically. For all artists this is a very valid concern, but Rodrigo managed to produce a record that surpasses her debut in all aspects, songwriting, vocal performance, etc. 

When comparing GUTS to SOUR, the overall tone of GUTS is much darker. Swapping out SOUR’s moody pop ballad sound for even moodier pop-rock anthems reminiscent of many of the young female artists of the early to mid 2000s such as Avril Lavigne and Hayley Williams. But by adding a modern spin on the music Rodrigo manages to create a sound that is fresh while still incorporating genres popularized in previous decades. 

On the album's opening track “All American”, Rodrigo shares her struggle of fitting in with the stereotypical American beauty standard as a half Philippino woman. The album's second track titled “Bad Idea Right?” displays Rodrigo’s conflicting emotions that she has when rekindling an old relationship- as she knows it may not end well again.

“Vampire”, the album's third track is a raw and emotional ballad where she describes a relationship in which she felt used and manipulated. For the remainder of the album Rodrigo delivers a balanced mix of ballads and more upbeat pop-punk tracks that do an excellent job of captivating the essence of what it truly means to be a teenager growing up under the watchful eye of the media.

With GUTS, Rodrigo has utilized a unique sound that feels like a natural extension of her previous work. Rodrigo performed multiple new songs at this year's MTV Video Music Awards and received critical acclaim. I personally cannot wait to see how GUTS performs at award shows this season, and what else Rodrigo has in store for her listeners in the future.