Olivia Rodrigo’s newest studio album GUTS mainly concerns themes of love and heartbreak, a set of topics for which she has become extremely well-known. However, she manages to accomplish this task with a fair amount of variety between tracks both in different cadences, vocal ranges, production, and arrangement. The album runs for a modest 12 tracks, including three lead singles. With a length of just under forty minutes, she does a great job of maintaining a fair amount of content within her tracks without delivering a mundane project. This is something many pop artists struggle with, especially when different songs throughout the album seem to have very similar content.
Moreover, the tracks transition well from to the other, making the album feel complete, which can be difficult with a smaller number of tracks. This album does, however, not standout within her discography when put up against her previous studio ao0lbum, SOUR. Some tracks feel like tracks she has released before, while others even sound like tracks released by other artists within the same genre.
Although the album is in fact very good, I wouldn’t call it unique within her discography or within the genre. Rodrigo largely stays within the confines of previously made albums, rarely pushing boundaries within the songs. My favorite track off the album is the lead single “Vampire,” as it contains an incredibly catchy and up-beat tempo as well as dynamic production that gives the song incredible replay value. It’s the kind of song people will be listening to for a long time.
Along with the production changing throughout the song, Rodrigo does a great job of following the movement of the instrumental, especially in the second half of the song where she switches her delivery and cadence, displaying her incredible vocal range.
If you’re looking for a pop album that is not an incredibly heavy listen, has incredible replay value, and concerns the topics of love and heartbreak, this is a great pick. On the contrary, I see almost nothing separating this album from othere artist’s work in an alrady oversaturated genre. If you are looking for a flawless, unique album and a break from the norm in the genre, this is certainly not the choice.
Grade: 6.5/10
