CALIFORNIA, USA — Multi-Platinum-selling three-time GRAMMY-winner Olivia Rodrigo has shared her exhilarating new single, “bad idea right?” and its accompanying video. The follow-up to “vampire,” “bad idea right?” is the second single from Olivia’s forthcoming sophomore album “GUTS,” due out via Geffen Records on September 08. Both “vampire” and “bad idea right?” are available now as instant gratitude tracks for those who pre-order the album.
In a dramatic shift from the piano-driven intensity of “vampire,” “bad idea right?” arrives as a frenetic and wildly fun look at getting back with an ex against all better judgment. As the song unfolds, the 20-year-old artist narrates her feverish inner monologue with both self-aware humor and confessional candor, once again showcasing the unfiltered yet sharply crafted songwriting first revealed on her 2021 full-length debut “SOUR.” Produced by and co-written with her frequent collaborator Daniel Nigro, “bad idea right?” sets that storytelling to a dizzying backdrop of chaotic guitar riffs, pounding drumbeats, and giddy gang vocals, fully echoing the playful spirit of the songwriting process.
“‘bad idea right?’ started with us making a joke song about me hooking up with an ex-boyfriend, but then we realized we were actually onto something,” Olivia said. “We were throwing the weirdest things at the wall. In one of the choruses, there’s a part that sounds like an instrument in the background, but it’s me gradually screaming louder and louder.”
A perfect reflection of the song’s madcap energy, the video for “bad idea right?” is Rodrigo’s latest collaboration with Petra Collins, the famed artist, director, and photographer who earned a GRAMMY nomination for her work on the video for Olivia’s “good 4 u” and also directed the videos for “brutal” and “vampire.” With its aesthetic partly inspired by early-’90s B-movie horror-comedy, the video for “bad idea right?” follows Olivia on a journey to an ex’s house, equal parts surreal and harrowing and fantastically absurd. The video for “bad idea right?” made its broadcast premiere on MTV Live, MTVU, MTV Biggest Pop, and on the Paramount Times Square billboards.
Partly written at the legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York City, “GUTS” mostly came to life in Nigro’s garage studio in Los Angeles. Although each song intensifies the emotional honesty that has always imbued her songwriting, the album finds Olivia expanding her expressive palette and uncovering entirely new dimensions of her artistry. An auspicious introduction to the next chapter of her already-extraordinary career, “vampire” quickly set the Spotify record for the biggest debut for a solo song in 2023.
Exclusively available at Olivia’s online store, the vinyl version of “GUTS” will be offered in four colors: red, white, blue, and purple. In addition, exclusive colored vinyl and CD, both with alternative covers and posters, are available for pre-order at Target here. Pre-orders for an exclusive picture disc vinyl version of the album were also made available via the Spotify Fans First program.
