On the ripe age of 20, Olivia Rodrigo is already an trade veteran. After getting down to pursue her Hollywood goals at 12, Rodrigo feels like an outdated soul when describing the vibe of her upcoming sophomore album. It’s a time capsule commemorating a second through which she looks like she’s “figuring stuff out, about failures and success and making errors,” the singer informed Vogue for its August cowl story.
The interview came about in New York’s East Village on the launch of what the journal stated was Rodrigo’s New York Period, because the singer not too long ago moved from her native California into a brand new residence within the metropolis, the place she spent a lot of final yr writing her sophomore album, GUTS (Sept. 8).
As for what these errors and failures are, properly, Rodrigo stated, “you’ll must hearken to the remainder of the album.” Author Jia Tolentino did get to listen to 4 unnamed songs from GUTS, describing two “wrenching, cinematic ballads,” she stated have been crafted with a “new self-assurance,” in addition to two others that have been “playful and insouciant.”
Rodrigo’s longtime producer and co-songwriter, Dan Nigro, stated Olivia is the form of artist that simply clearly displayed that particular spark from day one. “There’s this je ne sais quoi to Olivia,” he stated of the singer who went from reserving an American Doll film at 12 to co-starring within the Disney sequence Bizaardvark earlier than graduating to the lead in 2019’s Excessive College Musical: The Musical: The Collection. “Folks both have it or they don’t.”
Describing the songs on the album as anthems that “merely captured what it was prefer to be 20, an age if you’re typically blazing with ridiculous lust, thrilled to be seen as lovely, enraged by different folks’s expectations,” Tolentino stated Rodrigo had threaded the troublesome needle of avoiding “bubblegum locker-door fairy tales” whereas additionally sidestepping aggressive statements about being edgy and grown.
“Olivia can’t be something apart from herself,” Nigro stated of the singer who reveals that Bruce Springsteen is her “largest movie star crush” of all time whereas perusing the racks of an East Village file retailer. “There’s by no means a way within the studio of her making an attempt to suit right into a mildew, or sound like something that anybody may need her to.” He additionally famous that GUTS is a determined flip away from the melancholy vibe of her 2021 debut, Bitter.
And whereas the vibe is a bit totally different, as along with her Billboard Scorching 100 No. 1 hits “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U,” romantic drama continues to be by no means too far-off. One of many songs, which reportedly has tinges of Le Tigre, Charli XCX and the Josie and the Pussycats soundtrack, was about Olivia hurtling into an “ill-advised and irresistible night time with an ex.” One other tackles the minefield of expectations which might be placed on idealized younger girls, “the stress to be attractive, considerate, humorous, sort, inspiration, easygoing, endlessly grateful,” even because the riot grrrl-like refrain rips these concepts to shreds.
Rodrigo didn’t simply flip by means of the cabinets on the retailer, although, she additionally weighed in on the Supreme Courtroom’s 2022 determination placing down Roe v. Wade. She stated that the rollback of reproductive rights in America feels “really insane — I feel it’s sickening.” She talks about how younger girls of her technology could be, “compelled to offer delivery in the event that they get pregnant… It’s so scary. It’s such a terrifying actuality.”
Then, reflecting on her repeated assertions throughout 2021 that younger feminine pop singers have a best-listened-to-by-30 expiration date, Rodrigo stated that she was below the impression that the youthful you might be, “the extra profitable you’ll be within the music trade.” Now, nonetheless, she has had an about-face on that notion, rejecting the concept that “worth is externally outlined.”
“I feel I believed in these false concepts for a short while,” she stated. “Essentially the most painful second of my life became my most profitable.” Realizing that the correlation between ache and success would not have to be straight linked, Rodrigo stated she now understands that you would be able to write good music whilst you’re rising quite a bit and that that’s one thing that would go on on your entire profession.
And, in one other savvy veteran transfer, she was very cautious about going into particular element about what (or extra exactly, who) her extremely autobiographical-sounding lyrics are about. That explains why she wouldn’t title the “bloodsucker, fame f–ker” she calls out on lead single, “Vampire.” Funnily for an artist whose songs usually take deep dives into heartbreak and love’s confusion, she was additionally cagey about whether or not she’s courting now, providing, “I don’t kiss and inform.”
As a result of whereas she will fathom the general public fascination along with her love life — “I perceive it. I may sit right here and be like, ‘I don’t get why folks do this,’ however I do it so usually” — she stated she writes her lyrics to grasp her feelings higher, however as soon as they’re out on this planet they don’t belong to simply her anymore.
“She begins by talking for herself, however she speaks, ultimately, for therefore many younger girls,” stated her inspiration songwriting legend Carole King. “And I like her. I’ve solely met her for one afternoon, however I like her.”
Try photos from the Vogue shoot beneath.
Théo de Gueltzl
Théo de Gueltzl