Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, and Gary Oldman better watch out (though Robert Pattinson can relax.) Olivia Rodrigo returned to music with “vampire,” the first single off her upcoming Guts, the follow-up to her commercially successful, award-winning debut. The song doesn’t hold back.
In the sultry video, the songstress lounged at nighttime on a bed of grass, clutching a mic and wearing an ethereal white mini-dress. “Bloodsucker, soul f***** / bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire” she croons as she realizes with dismay that she’s actually on a stage, which eventually bursts into flames as a horrified audience watches. Olivia also hosted a livestream event ahead of the song and music video’s midnight release on June 30, taking photos with fans while wearing a stunning black slipdress with off-the-shoulder straps.
Olivia announced her new music on Jun. 13. “My new song ‘vampire’ is out June 30th!” she wrote, while sharing the single art. Fans who also called the Heartbreak Hotline at 323-622-SOUR heard a preview of the song, with Teen Vogue calling it a “slower, piano-centric ballad” like her breakthrough hit, “Drivers License.”
“Marking the first new music from the record-breaking young artist since the May 2021 release of Sour, ‘vampire’ is the sound of an artist firmly in control, imbued with a sense of maturity and a bold confidence,” Geffen Records said in a press release. The song was written with producer Daniel Nigro, the former guitarist for indie rock band As Tall As Lions who also worked on Olivia’s Sour. Nigro also worked on Olivia’s upcoming sophomore album, Guts.
“I absolutely love working with Dan,” she told Billboard in February 2022. We have such a good groove together. We are always sharing ideas back and forth and have been carving out time to work together in the studio. The craziness of ‘Sour’ being out in the world was something that really only Dan and I could relate to, and I think that has brought us closer together. I trust him so much and really enjoy the music we’ve been making.”
“For me, this album is about growing pains and trying to figure out who I am at this point in my life,” Olivia said in a press release for Guts. “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.”
The new single may show that despite the growth, she’s still a Twilight fan. “My favorite album is the Twilight soundtrack and nobody can change my mind,” she tweeted in March 2020. Two years, later, a fan reposted one of Olivia’s Instagram Stories, apparently taken while the singer was on tour. “Obsessed with the fact that Olivia Rodrigo wears Edward Cullen in-ear monitors on tour,” said the fan. After Olivia shared the artwork for the single – a black-and-white photo of her profile, with two purple bandages on her neck – her friend, Conan Gray, posted a scene from Twilight to promote the song. Taylor Lautner, one of the stars of the vampire-werewolf franchise, commented on Olivia’s photo, asking, “K WHO TF BIT YOU.” The official Twilight IG account also commented, “Been waiting for this day! Dreams really do come true.”