Little Something Extra: “Unheard” & “Guts (Spilled)”
On Friday, March 22, pop star and teen-phenomenon, Olivia Rodrigo, released the deluxe edition of her critically acclaimed sophomore album Guts. She announced the extended edition — Guts (Spilled) — during the first night of her two-show residency at the United Center in Chicago on Tuesday, March 19, surprising fans by unfurling a sign that read “Guts Deluxe Out Friday.” Rodrigo’s background dancers then revealed the writing on their own signs: the titles of the five new tracks, “obsessed,” “girl i’ve always been,” “scared of my guitar,” “stranger,” and “so american.”
What’s notable about Guts (Spilled) is how it coincides with the release of Irish folk singer and rock star Hozier’s EP Unheard. Boasting four previously-unreleased songs, Unheard is an extension of Hozier’s third studio album, Unreal Unearth, which was originally released in August 2023. The album was inspired by Dante’s Inferno and the concept of the nine circles of Hell, with each song referencing either one of the nine circles or the descent into or ascent from Hell.
The simultaneous release of two wildly contrasting pieces of media is not unheard of, nor is it a particularly new phenomenon (remember the Barbenheimer event that resulted in the movie event of 2023?) but it’s always great fun for those invested in both, i.e., me.
As stated by Hozier on Instagram, the four new songs — “Too Sweet,” “Wildflower and Barley,” “Empire Now,” and “Fare Well” — were songs that “might’ve made it to the circles of gluttony, limbo, violence, and the outward ‘ascent’ respectively.”
The first track off Unheard, “Too Sweet,” is a jaunty, haughty tune that tells the story of two polar opposite lovers — one that overindulges in the pleasures of life and does little to nurture their spirit, and the other who values discipline, health, and structure. The rhythmic, constant plucking of the bass encourages the listener to bob their head in time, and the smooth yet smokey tone of Hozier’s vocals urges movement. The chorus is addictive, and the non-lyrical background vocals are transcendent.
“Wildflower and Barley (feat. Allison Russell),” on the other hand, is a gentle duet of stillness. Whereas “Too Sweet” demands energy from its listener, “Wildflower and Barley” seeks grace and contemplation. Hozier’s softer, slightly raspy vocals blend delightfully with Russell’s ethereally wispy voice as they sing over and around each other. The combination of their voices mimics an echo chamber that is highlighted by the acoustic instruments employed. Furthermore, it is in this song — which references the first circle of Hell, conveying a sense of longing and the desire for renewal — that the title of the original album Unreal Unearth is mentioned.
The next track, “Empire Now,” which Hozier noted was inspired by the seventh circle of Hell, violence, is haunting yet grand. With his strong voice at the forefront and the entirety of the Budapest String Orchestra in the background, Hozier presents a broad introspection on the result of empire and the violence that came from it. There is something faintly Western about the song — perhaps it’s the sliding of the guitar, the bigness of the mix, or the lightsaber sounds I keep hearing in the background.
Finally, “Fare Well” takes Unheard back to a gentler, more cheerful state of mind. But don’t let the folk strumming of the guitar distract you; the lyrics are incredibly concerning as Hozier compares himself to various animals in seconds-away-from-dying situations. It is a hopeless and self-deprecating narrative placed against an upbeat tempo. If I close my eyes for long enough, the melody reminds me of copyright-free music on Youtube. You know what I’m talking about.
Like Unheard, Rodrigo’s Guts (Spilled) expands on the themes proposed in the original album, cranking up the pop punk, manic obsessiveness. “Obsessed” — the first bonus track, which was originally only available on the Target edition of Guts — is an example of Rodrigo putting a fun twist on the jealous-over-your-ex trope she’s explored before. The vocals and the background instrumentals are bipolar in a controlled and effective way, swinging back and forth between loud and angry, and seductive and whisper-soft. I do, however, prefer the pitched-up, sped-up version on TikTok.
“Girl i’ve always been” is interesting. Rodrigo channels the country girl that she certainly is not; her tone is reminiscent of actress Rachel Zegler on The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes soundtrack, which Rodrigo was also a part of in a much better song! In the song, Rodrigo details to, presumably, an ex that all of the features about her that he thinks make her “different” from who he thought she was has actually always been a part of her. The lyrics are messy, and the simple acoustics resemble a rehearsal more than a polished production.
The third bonus track of the deluxe album, “scared of my guitar,” is Rodrigo reflecting on her relationship with music as a personal expression of herself and music as a career. The ballad is evocative, the sound of which calls to mind Rodrigo of the Sour era, but with the thematic stylings of the current Guts era. The song, although easy to skip over due to it being a quiet, unostentatious song surrounded by the glitz and glam of Rodrigo’s specific pop punk princess aesthetic, is quite beautiful and powerful. Her vocals are slightly breathy and desperate, as she leads you to an explosion of insecurity and regret.
“Stranger” is a great song when you think of it as the reverse of Taylor Swift’s “New Year’s Day.” When Swift says, “Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere,” Rodrigo responds, “You’re just a stranger I know everything about.” Even without the connection to Swift that I fully invented for no reason, “stranger” is a simple yet hopeful recollection of a past relationship as she successfully navigates through personal growth — a theme not yet explored in Rodrigo’s catalog! Furthermore, it’s another folk/country-sounding track. Perhaps this is a sneak peek into her third album, or maybe “You Can’t Catch Me Now” — the song she wrote for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — had a huge impact on her.
The last track of Guts (Spilled), “so american,” is the only previously unheard track, and that’s because the song was — allegedly — written and produced just three weeks prior to the track’s release. A rockin’, swooning ode to someone she’s “gonna marry,” “so american” is the first verifiable love song that Rodrigo — who built her career on heartbreaking ballads and fast-paced revenge songs — has ever released. It is also rumored that the banger is about British actor Louis Partridge, to whom Rodrigo has been romantically linked since October 2023. Partridge, notably, has been spotted at a majority of Rodrigo’s shows during the Guts World Tour.
Both albums are available on all streaming platforms.
Photo courtesy of Meylina Tran / Quaker Campus.
