For three time Grammy winner pop musician Olivia Rodrigo, maintaining prominence within the media has never been an issue, especially since her debut single “Drivers License” in early 2021. Rodrigo has, throughout the past few years, resided within countless headlines and media broadcasts praising her success within growing fanbases, musical growth and advanced songwriting. Many reflect her to that of musical sensation Taylor Swift, an individual who also gained immense attention with the release of her debut single and album “Taylor Swift”; in similar fashion, many fans speculate mirroring success between the two as Rodrigo continues to construct a music career out of antsy pop-rock, unlike what today’s musical culture consists of.
In particular, Rodrigo recently released her sophomore album “GUTS,” a work surrounding the chaotic, messy perspective of a teenage girl in the modern age. The album features two major components that juxtapose with her chart-topper “Sour,” an album just released two years prior that arguably defined her current reputation and musical character. In the modern day, her most recent album welcomes a completely different mood shift. With her first album, she mainly explored the height of heartbreak, and the various perspectives one can have when going through a romantic break-up with mainly melancholic symphonies and gut-wrenching lyrics. Comparatively, Rodrigo completely reinforces a new perspective—while still exploring the topic of romance. She follows her trend of singing and song-writing about girlhood and heartbreak, yet incorporates rock into the album.
The majority of the songs include some up-beat, spiraling music that is similar to that of Avril Lavigne—with such an unexpected turn-around, fans have exceeded streaming standards with around 200 million streams on Spotify alone, and each track trending in the Top 40 of the “Hot 100,” with her single “Vampire” leading as number one. With such expected continuous success, Rodrigo has been rumored to be planning a deluxe album release at some point in the next few weeks, creating excitement within fans and music lovers.
Rodrigo’s team has already recently announced a special vinyl featuring four “secret tracks,” all within limited edition etched vinyls that are set to be released on Record Store Day, an event occurring on Black Friday to celebrate independently owned record stores. Alongside that, Rodrigo recently released a music video for her song “All-American B****,” featuring a glitch within the video that includes images of CDs and a list of the four secret tracks: “obsessed,” “scared of my guitar,” “stranger” and “girl i’ve always been.” Through subtle messages and implications surrounding these surprise tracks, many fans are waiting impatiently for another clue or release announcement. Since Rodrigo had confirmed there are no extra tracks on her debut album and has never included surprise features, fans speculate that she will eventually release the four by the end of the year. Within music video releases, deluxe version speculations and chart-topping streams, Rodrigo continues to build upon her prospering growth and reputation within the music industry.
