GUTS
by OLIVIA RODRIGO

GUTS, the follow-up to Olivia Rodrigo's blockbuster debut album Sour, matched the success of its predecessor by debuting at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart. In fact, GUTS racked up 60,300 chart units in its first week on release to outsell the rest of the Top 10 combined. Like Sour, it pivots between punky pop-rock bangers and heartfelt piano ballads on which Olivia shares her recollections of love, break-ups and the awkwardness of coming-of-age. She also embraces an early 2000s pop-rap sound on Get Him Back, a standout track that followed the new wave-flavoured Bad Idea Right? and melodramatic anthem Vampire into the Official Singles Chart Top 10. The album's arresting authenticity is its USP: when Olivia tells us that "love is embarrassing", we know she means it because she's felt it.