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Olivia Rodrigo releases new single, ‘bad idea right?’

It's the second cut from much-anticipated second LP 'GUTS'

By Joe Goggins

Olivia Rodrigo in a still from the 'bad idea right?' video, 2023
Olivia Rodrigo (Photo: YouTube)

Olivia Rodrigo has dropped a new single, ‘bad idea right?’, as the build-up to her much-anticipated second record gathers pace.

The new track follows ‘vampire’, which was released in June as the lead single from GUTS, which is due out on September 8. The track is a tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of the pitfalls of going back to an ex, with Rodrigo telling fans in a statement that it “shows another side of GUTS that’s a little more fun and playful.” It arrives backed by a new video, which was directed by the singer’s long-time collaborator Petra Collins – you can see it below.

GUTS arrives next month as one of the most hotly anticipated albums of the year, as the follow-up to Rodrigo’s 2021 debut LP SOUR, which went multi-platinum in both her native US and the UK, bolstered by the success of singles like ‘Drivers License’ and ‘Good 4 U’. Announcing the follow-up back in June, Rodrigo said that GUTS will be about “growing pains and trying to figure out who I am at this point in my life. 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.”

You can see the full track listing for GUTS below. Discussing the creative process behind ‘bad idea right?’, which was co-written by frequent collaborator Dan Nigro, Rodrigo 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.” In an Instagram post, meanwhile, she claimed that the pair wrote the track’s chorus “as a joke”, but “we loved it so much we made it into a full fledged song.”

Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS:

  1. ‘all american bitch’
  2. ‘bad idea right?’
  3. ‘vampire’
  4. ‘lacy’
  5. ‘ballad of a homeschool girl’
  6. ‘making the bed’
  7. ‘logical’
  8. ‘get him back’
  9. ‘love is embarrassing’
  10. ‘the grudge’
  11. ‘pretty isn’t pretty’
  12. ‘teenage dream’