GUTS

Olivia Rodrigo

BY SOPHIA GOETZ

Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album, “Guts”, is just as powerful as her platinum-selling debut, “Sour”. Although certain songs on this 90s-inspired album may seem diametrically opposed to one another, they are all connected by the artist’s disillusion- ment with adulthood.

To highlight a couple of my favorite tracks off of the album: “All-American B*tch” kicks off the re- cord. Rodrigo, who is only 20, opens the song with a gentle melody and pleasant voice, but by the chorus, she is screaming her frustration: “I don’t get angry when I’m pissed/I’m the eternal optimist/I scream inside to deal with it.” The dramatic shift in tone highlights the vast gulf between the idealized portrayal of women in popular culture and Rodrigo’s seething frustration with it. Frustration with society’s unrealistic beauty standards is another theme explored in “Pretty Isn’t Pretty” by Rodrigo. The singer expresses her worries about her physical appearance and the false definition of “pretty” determined by every- thing around us: “I could change up my body and change my face/I could try every lipstick in every shade/But I’d always feel the same/’Cause pretty isn’t pretty enough.”

Rodrigo’s second album successfully weaves together a wide range of emotions, leaving listeners with a satisfying whole. She shows a different aspect of her musical personality when she mixes classic instrumentals with contemporary sounds. Meanwhile, her skill as a songwriter and her will- ingness to bare her soul continue to win her fans. “Guts” is a stunning album that demonstrates her development and potential.