Returning to the music industry, Olivia Rodrigo released the MV “Vampire” paving the way for upcoming projects, including the second studio album of her career. The song is not too groundbreaking, still has the familiar color of the Gen Z female singer. However, the softness of her voice and typical pop rock style are factors that help the “Drivers License” star score points.
Before 2021, the world seemed to only know Olivia Rodrigo as an actress. Then the hit “Drivers License” and the album “SOUR” appeared, turning her into one of the most popular pop stars globally.
Following colleagues Megan Thee Stallion and Billie Eilish, the female singer born in 2003 continued to win the “Best New Artist” award at the 2023 Grammys, along with a golden trumpet for the “Best Pop Vocal Album” award with “SOUR” . That achievement is a memorable milestone, but at the same time a big challenge for a young vocalist like Olivia Rodrigo.
After 2 years, the female singer returned with her latest composition titled “Vampire”. This is a project that came out right when Olivia Rodrigo turned 20 years old. At the same time, it is also the opening single for the second studio album titled “Guts”, promising to create many surprises for fans.
“The Biggest Mistake” by Olivia Rodrigo
“Vampire” is a song composed by Olivia Rodrigo and producer Dan Nigro. He contributed to the resounding success of the album “SOUR”, as well as a series of hits by singers such as Caroline Polachek, Empress Of, Sky Ferreira,…
This time, Nigro still chose pop rock colors as the main color, which is also a shirt that fits Rodrigo’s voice. However, the way he arranges and handles the instruments is somewhat simpler than before.
In the first seconds, the mix begins with a gentle piano sound, easily making us think of a sad pop ballad. But no, Olivia Rodrigo continuously draws listeners into narrative lyrics, then pushes the climax in the chorus.
Over time, more layers of sound are added. Strong drums blend together, intensifying the drama. The sound of the violin mixed with the electronic guitar makes the second half of the mix more colorful than the first half, serving as the background for the female singer’s soft voice.
The song’s content is quite simple, focusing on the singer’s perspective when remembering old love. The “vampire” image in the title and mentioned throughout the song is a metaphor Rodrigo uses to refer to his ex-lover. She admitted that she had made many big mistakes, but said that he was even more terrible, to the point of “turning the worst into normal”.
The female singer described her ex-lover as a “bloodsucker” “who only shows her true form at night.” He exhausted her with lies and deceit, to the point of doubting her own intelligence. Finally, Rodrigo closes the song with harsh lyrics, as if accusing his ex-lover:
The MV is simple but interesting
“Vampire” has a simple MV but creates a surprise for the audience. Sitting in the director’s chair is none other than Petra Collins – who was in charge of the visuals for Olivia Rodrigo in singles such as “Good 4 U”, “Brutal”.
In the first seconds, viewers step into a quiet dark night, with the sound of cicadas and the full moon hanging in the sky. After that, the lens mainly focused on Olivia Rodrigo. The close-up camera angle captures her face, lying on her back, looking toward the moon and sky.
In the following scenes, the camera angle gradually moves further away, and the scene gradually becomes clearer. Olivia Rodrigo, wearing a white outfit, holding a microphone, is spread out on a lawn in the middle of a deserted forest. Suddenly, something hit the female singer really hard. It turns out, Rodrigo is not alone in the forest as we initially thought. In fact, she is playing the role of a singer in the MV, performing on stage before the praise of dozens of audiences.
When the song reaches its climax, the MV also becomes more dramatic. After the collision, the female singer stood up with her body injured and blood smeared in several places. However, she still tried to continue the performance, pretending nothing had happened by smiling, then holding the mic and singing.
Under the stands, viewers went from confused to happy, and finally afraid for the singer’s condition. But no one did anything to help her.
Suddenly, members of the crew and security guards approached the stage and asked Rodrigo to stop. This was also the time when the female singer became panicked and decided to run away from the spotlight. Finally, the MV ends with the image of Rodrigo alone in the city but feeling very happy. The female singer smiled because she felt completely free, no longer dependent on anyone.
A safe comeback
Back 2 years ago, “SOUR” almost swept every chart in the world with a series of hits, the most prominent of which is still “Drivers License”, currently reaching more than 460 million views on YouTube. This time, “Vampire” also achieved quite positive initial achievements. The song quickly topped the global Spotify chart after 2 days of release, and also broke the Billboard charts in many countries such as England, America, Korea,…
The appearance of “Vampire” also brought the name Olivia Rodrigo back to a series of newspapers. The song received much praise from critics. Most appreciated the way the female singer expressed and conveyed emotions into each lyric. Even the prestigious music magazine Pitchfork favorably confirmed this as “Excellent new music track”, a song that US-UK music lovers cannot ignore.
It can be said that Olivia Rodrigo still made a pretty safe move when choosing “Vampire” to mark her return this time. The song does not have too many breakthroughs compared to the songs in “SOUR”. It has the weakness of “Drivers License”, but still has the fierceness of “Good 4 u”, “Happier”. Unfortunately, the song still lacks a bit of explosiveness to truly conquer the demanding audience.
However, “Vampire” is still attractive thanks to its characteristic pop rock sound. This is proof that Olivia Rodrigo has found her own musical space. Above all, the song has just enough spice to make the audience curious and wonder about what the Gen Z vocalist will continue to perform in the upcoming album.
