Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” will arrive this Friday, June 30, and up until this morning, fans weren’t totally clued in on the single’s place in Rodrigo’s highly anticipated sophomore album. (Although, there was some funny Twilight crossover.)
“my sophomore album GUTS comes out september 8th,” Rodrigo captioned an Instagram post on Monday, June 26, and it should be noted that the accompanying cover art plays in a purple color scheme that feels like an extension of Sour. “i am so proud of this record and I can’t wait to share it with you all! u can presave it now! xoxoxoxo [red heart emoji, purple heart emoji, envelope emoji, black heart emoji].”
Taylor Swift is synonymous with Easter eggs in modern pop music, and Rodrigo is taking the baton. Shortly after Rodrigo’s Guts announcement, About Music pointed out that Rodrigo hid the word within her 2021 “Brutal” video.
At the 1-minute mark, Rodrigo is performing on Instagram Live, and someone comments, “i love your guts!!!” Ten seconds later in the scrolling comments section, a user’s handle is “Guts49.” Even more subtly, at 1:24, a promotional poster for some sort of fictional beverage appears to feature the title.
Olivia Rodrigo has teased her album, ‘Guts’, in the music video of ‘Brutal’ in 2021. pic.twitter.com/TahomxQesu
— About Music (@AboutMusicYT) June 26, 2023
Rodrigo instantly dominated the pop sphere with her record-breaking debut single, “Drivers License,” and equally unprecedented May 2021 debut album, Sour.
“I’m definitely not as sad as I was when I wrote Sour,” the three-time Grammy winner told Elle in March 2022. “I’m so excited to make my next record and explore more colors and textures and feelings and grow as a human being even more. I’m really stoked for that.”
By August 2022, Rodrigo teased that she was back in the studio with producer Dan Nigro, and she promised that 2023 would bring “new music” in a pre-recorded video for her top 2022 Spotify Wrapped listeners.