brutal

“brutal” is the opening track from American singer, songwriter and actress Olivia Rodrigo and her debut album “SOUR”, which was released yesterday on the 21st May 2021 through Geffen Records. As with almost all songs on the album, Rodrigo wrote the song along with Dan Nigro, who produced all songs on the “SOUR” album.

“brutal” is Rodrigo’s pop-punk take on modern teenage issues. Speaking to Apple Music, Rodrigo revealed her love for the song:

“Before I met my collaborator, producer—and cowriter in many instances—Dan Nigro, I would just write songs in my bedroom, completely by myself. So it was a little bit of a learning curve, figuring out how to collaborate with other people and stick up for your ideas and be open to other people’s. Sometimes it takes you a little while to gain the confidence to really remember that your gut feelings are super valid and what makes you a special musician. I struggled for a while with writing upbeat songs just because I thought in my head that I should write about happiness or love if I wanted to write a song that people could dance to. And ‘brutal’ is actually one of my favorite songs on SOUR, but it almost didn’t make it on the record. Everyone was like, ‘You make it the first [track], people might turn it off as soon as they hear it.’ I think it’s a great introduction to the world of SOUR.”

The official lyric video was uploaded to Rodrigo’s official YouTube channel on the day of the album release – 21st May 2021. In less than 24 hours, the lyric video has well over 1.1 million views and over a quarter of a million likes. As of the 21st May 2021, there is no music video for the song.

The lyrics to “brutal” can be read here.