She’s back! Olivia Rodrigo has returned with new music two years after dropping her Grammy-winning debut album Sour. The singer marked the beginning of a new musical era with the release of “Vampire,” the lead single from her sophomore album Guts, due out September 8. (We’re sensing a bloody theme here.) She also shared a music video directed by Petra Collins, who helmed her “brutal” and “good 4 u” visuals.
“For me, this album is about growing pains and trying to figure out who I am at this point in my life,” Rodrigo said in a statement. “I feel like I grew 10 years between the ages of 18 and 20—it was such an intense period of awkwardness and change. I think that’s all just a natural part of growth, and hopefully the album reflects that.”
“Vampire” is just merely our first glimpse at the project. It begins as a moody piano ballad before it grows and swells; Rodrigo starts belting and the guitars start shredding. With lyrics like “Bloodsucker, famefucker / Bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire,” she sings of someone who took advantage of her fame and played with her emotionally.
“I was upset about a certain situation and went to the studio alone and sat down at the grand piano, and the chords and melody and lyrics just poured out of me—almost like an out-of-body experience,” Rodrigo said in another statement. “It’s a song about feeling confused and hurt, and at first I thought it was meant to be a piano ballad. But when Dan and I started working on it, we juxtaposed the lyrics with these big drums and crazy tempo changes. So now it’s like a heartbreak song you can dance to.”
Equating growing up with spilling your guts is an apt comparison for Rodrigo, whose debut album captured the raw struggles of adolescence, from the intensity of breakups to navigating the treacherous territory of social media. The gripes of growing up were even more extreme for the singer, who became hypervisible in her late teens when she dropped her megahit “Drivers License” and became the center of romantic drama (involving her ex Joshua Bassett and his then-girlfriend Sabrina Carpenter). Rodrigo, now 20, has evolved since then.
“I’m definitely not as sad as I was when I wrote Sour,” she told ELLE.com back 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.” And so are we.
Below, read the full lyrics to “Vampire.”
Hate to give the satisfaction asking how you’re doing now
How’s the castle built off people you pretend to care about
Just what you wanted
Look at you, cool guy, you got itI see the parties and the diamonds sometimes when I close my eyes
Six months of torture
That you sold as some forbidden paradise
I loved you truly
Gotta laugh at the stupidityCuz I’ve made some real big mistakes
But you make the worst one look fine
I should’ve known it was strange
You only come out at night
I used to think i was smart
But you made
Me look so naive
The way you sold me for parts
As you sunk your teeth into me, oh
Bloodsucker, famefucker
Bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampireEvery girl I ever talked to told me you were bad, bad news
You called them crazy god I hate the way I called them crazy too
You’re so convincing
How do you lie without flinching
(How do you lie, how do you lie, how do you lie)Oh, what a mesmerizing, paralyzing, fucked up little thrill
Can’t figure out just how you do it and god knows i never will
Went for me and not her
Cuz girls your age know betterI’ve made some real big mistakes
But you make the worst one look fine
I should’ve known it was strangeYou only come out at night
I used to think i was smart
But you made me look so naive
The way you sold me for parts
As you sunk your teeth into me, oh
Bloodsucker, famefucker
Bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampireYou said it was true love
But wouldn’t that be hard
You can’t love anyone
Cuz that would mean you had a heart
I tried you help you out
Now i know that i can’t
Cuz how you think’s the kind of thing
I’ll never understandI’ve made some real big mistakes
But you make the worst one look fine
I should’ve known it was strange
You only come out at night
I used to think I was smart
But you made me look so naive
The way you sold me for parts
As you sunk your teeth into me, oh
Bloodsucker, famefucker
Bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she’s listening to Lorde right now.