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further experimental sounds for the Disney starlet , Rodrigo is still the girl next door we met three years prior . Yet again , the extraordinary experiences of her life manage to encapsulate ordinary coming-of-age checkpoints that anyone can identify with – A uniquely humble element that avoids common second-album pitfalls . The relatability marker of Rodrigo ’ s celebrity is a shorter hurdle to jump given the social media infiltration essential to Gen-Z , but nonetheless an impressive accomplishment . GUTS is an episodic insight into the psyche of a star .
Where GUTS falters , it sometimes seems only a product of Rodrigo ’ s stardom : intimacy that only goes so far and occasionally things border on generic . " Logical ” features strong lyrics like “ I fell for you like water falls from a February sky / but now the current ’ s stronger ” alongside weaker ones such as “ two plus two equals five ” and “ the sky is green the grass is red ,” both moderately diluting an overall stellar tracklist . The vague and impersonal Pretty isn ’ t pretty ” similarly threatens the list , a song seemingly more suitable for SOUR . Even so , these valleys stand amongst a sea of mountains that make up GUTS . The opening track , “ All-American Bitch ”, perfectly encapsulates the joyride of this album – proclamations of tame feminine passivity interrupted with angst , honesty , and heavy rock influence . Rodrigo gives us poignantly cutting lyrics that naturally succeed its naive , younger predecessor , a self-awareness well explored throughout the 39-minute album . " Lacy ” – which Rodrigo admits to writing for a poetry class and later reimagining sonically – is sweetly tortured . Catering to the likes of Gracie Abrams , the gentle whisper soundtrack slowly shifts from soft to cynical . A quiet envious ascend into madness , the song and lyrics are jealous and cutting – a purely poetic personification of grappling with emotion and logic . “ Lacy ” reads like a diary entry or a letter to be burned . Despite being the most vocally reserved song on the album , it packs an incredibly loud punch . Our chapter in Rodrigo ’ s discography – and personal coming of age – is wrapped up in the closer “ Teenage Dream .” The song is a far stretch from the Katy Perry hit of the same title , instead delving into the “ Nothing New ” narrative of Taylor Swift ft . Phoebe Bridgers : The ever pending threats of expiration for young women . Although the appraisal of SOUR quickly squashed warnings of the “ Driver ’ s License ” singer becoming a one-hit-wonder , Teenage Dream explores an anxiety that spans beyond career fears . Calling back to SOUR ’ s opening question of “ Where ’ s my fuckin ’ teenage dream ?” Rodrigo breaks a fourth wall in closing GUTS with , “ and I ’ m sorry that I couldn ’ t always be your teenage dream ”. Nearly every track subtly alludes to both feelings of inadequacy and sentiments of dissatisfaction in stardom , spiraling into a heartbreaking self-written farewell letter to teenage girlhood .
Rodrigo manages to not only deliver a body of work much improved from her debut but further strengthens her freshman album in successive themes . GUTS is a nearly meta , self-aware pop-star persona wrapped into a pretty purple bow – An album curated to bring out the teenage girl in all of us .
– Riley Vernon
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R . E . M . Around the Sun Collapse Into Now
LP reissues ( Craft )
R . E . M .’ s later albums may not have connected as well with the public as Lifes Rich Pageant or Automatic for the People , but the fans who remained engaged are in general agreement that the band went out on its own terms and on a creative high with swan song Collapse into Now . Craft has returned 2004 ’ s Around the Sun and 2011 ’ s Collapse into Now to print on 180-gram black vinyl . Around the Sun was R . E . M .’ s third album without founding drummer and bandbrother Bill Berry . The remaining trio of Michael Stipe , Mike Mills , and Peter Buck had learned to work and identify as a trio , but the album is uneven and experimental , both to the band ’ s credit and detriment . Buck has described being tired of the songwriting treadmill around this time , but the band still makes an effort to stretch their sound . The mid-tempo “ Leaving New York ” is chiming and melancholy as Stipe sings a sublime melody atop Buck ’ s unconventional chord progression . Stipe sings in a loving ode to the city where he once “ saw the light fading out ” following 9 / 11 . “ Electron Blue ” is a future-casting fusion of gentle Beach Boys pop and strident electropop . The lyric describes a hallucinogenic drug made of light . “ The Outsiders ” glides along a smooth Mills bassline , but the storyline reflects unrest and the dawn of uprising . The tension is heightened by Q-Tip ’ s guest rap , which is ultimately more effective than the band ’ s earlier multi-genre experiment with Out of Time ’ s “ Radio Song .” Built around Buck ’ s anxious acoustic guitar and Mills ’ droning organ , “ Final Straw ” is another politically charged song in protest of the Iraq War . Stipe ’ s angry lyric insists that two wrongs will not make a right . “ Wanderlust ” has a bounce reminis-
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