Olivia Rodrigo has finally answered the prayers of her Livies.
Today (June 30) sees the release of her first new song in over two years. The lead single from her upcoming second album, GUTS (out September 8), “vampire” is destined to put Olivia back on top.
In a new interview with Billboard, the former Disney star expressed some nerves in returning with new music. “Putting out a new song is a little bit daunting, but ultimately really exciting,” she says. “I just feel really lucky to have so much support coming from all angles.”
Olivia says the song is “about feeling used, and all of the anger and regret and heartbreak that comes with it.”She admits that writing songs has become a form of therapy for her. “I go to songwriting to get those feelings out that aren’t super comfortable to express in everyday life. So it was a very therapeutic experience, writing this song.”
Two years can be a lifetime for a pop artist, and Olivia feels she’s changed a lot since the release of her debut, Sour, and its massive hit, “Drivers License.”
“The Olivia of two years ago definitely wouldn’t have expected her career to do all the crazy, wonderful things that it did so quickly, and I’m very grateful for that,” she says. “I’ve changed so much in the past few years… But I think the most change I’ve felt was just in Olivia as a girl — growing up and changing from being a teenager to a 20-year-old. All of the maturing and figuring yourself out, that’s just on a normal human-to-human level — I think that was the most surprising thing for me.”
As for GUTS, Olivia said her music has changed as much as she has as a person. “I actually feel like the album is really, incredibly diverse,” she adds. “There are other kinds of ballads — I guess I consider ‘vampire’ a ballad on the record — but yeah, I don’t know! It’s all pretty different.”
You can read the rest of the interview here.