Olivia Rodrigo Is in the Studio Working on ‘New Sounds and New Stories’

Olivia Rodrigo has been headlining festivals and playing at arenas around the world over the past year, but last night, she hosted a more “intimate” show for fans in New York City. (A crowd of a thousand people is still modest for a pop star of her stature.) “I’m hopefully going to connect with some friends and fans and see some faces up close, which I very rarely get to do. So, I’m excited,” she tells me the day before the show, which took place at New York City’s Park Avenue Armory on Thursday night.

Hosted by American Express, the concert was available to Platinum Card members—one of the many perks of the brand’s newly refreshed benefits, which include exclusive access to private events. She only announced the performance a few days prior, sending fans on a scavenger hunt around New York for clues about the event. The lucky attendees were treated to a “low-key, stripped back” set by Rodrigo, who says it’s “always really fun for me, just as a singer and as a songwriter, just let the song be the song and take away all the frills for a second.”

Wearing a green, crystal-embroidered minidress by Miu Miu, with knee socks and matching ballet flats, the Grammy winner sang acoustic arrangements of hits like “Good 4 U,” as well as fan-favorite cuts like “Pretty Isn’t Pretty” and “Lacy.” Of the latter, she even took a moment to tell fans how a needle drop in season 3 of The Summer I Turned Pretty sparked a rise in the song’s popularity. “Ever since it was in that show, people have been chanting at me at concerts to sing this song if I wasn’t going to sing it,” she said from the stage. “And so I’m really grateful to that show, and I’m really grateful to you guys for listening to this song and streaming it, because it’s always been one of my favorites.”

The show at the armory seemed to mark the end of an era for the singer, as she announced this would be her final Guts show. But there’s more to look forward to on the horizon—she has confirmed she’s already working on a new album.

Below, Rodrigo chats about what her new music will sound like, connecting with her fans, and her favorite guest stars on stage.

What does it mean to you to be able to connect with your fans in such an intimate way?

It’s so meaningful. That’s the reason why live music is so special these days. There’s just so many screens and fake things that are around us all the time. But live music is one of the mediums where it just feels so real and raw and [we] feel so connected with people that are next to us, whether it be a stranger or an artist that you really love. It’s a very surreal experience to be on stage and watch that. And I especially still feel a connection towards some of the younger girls that come and watch my shows. It feels like a real privilege to be in their lives in that way that I am for however many songs or hours I am on stage.

I am glad you mentioned that because when I saw you at Madison Square Garden last year, I really loved seeing so many young girls there and enjoying themselves, and the part when everyone screams with you when you turned all the lights off. How did it feel to experience that every night?

That was my favorite part of the show. Just to turn the lights off and hear everyone just scream and rage was just so… I think cathartic is the only word I could use to describe it.

I have in-ears [microphones] in my ears when I’m performing, obviously, so I can’t hear everything, but I always made sure to take my in-ears out at that moment every night so I could just hear the sheer volume of the screams that were being thrown at me. It was always really wonderful and I hope people kind of got to feel a release while doing that. That was the hope.

During your festival run and the tour, you brought out guest stars, whether it was Weezer or David Byrne. When I saw you, you brought out Jewel. Do you have a dream guest that you’d love to bring onto your show next?

Oh my gosh, that’s such a hard question. I kind of feel like I’m superstitious. I want to make sure that it happens before I say it out loud. But I had so much fun. I loved all of them so much. It was such an honor to get to perform with every single one of them, Weezer and David Byrne and Chappell Roan and Noah Kahan and all those people that I just adore so much. But I got to sing with Robert Smith from The Cure at Glastonbury a few months ago. And I just play back that memory so often in my head. It’s just something that’s so special to me and it felt like the happiest days of my life.

That seemed like a really, really special moment. And such a surprise for the audience, too.

We made sure to keep it like a real surprise. We didn’t tell anyone. We didn’t even tell the BBC, who broadcasted the thing. We were like, “Nope, we have a special guest, but it’s NA, not disclosed.”

So, I have seen that you’re teasing that you’re in the studio. Can you share a little bit of what you’re working on? Is a new album in the works?

Yeah, I’m working on new music and I’m having a lot of fun. It’s nice to be home from touring, to really get to sink my teeth into new songs and new sounds and new stories. I’m having a really good time.

Does it feel different from working on Guts or Sour?

It feels so different. Just by virtue of, I guess I’m a little older now and I feel like I have more experience. I think the tour and all the festivals were really educational for me and taught me a lot about who I am and what kind of music I want to make and what music I want to play for people. I’m taking all those lessons into the studio with me.

When you collaborated with AmEx last year, you got to do a homecoming trip to the Philippines. I am Filipino myself, so that was really, really cool to see. What was the biggest lesson that you took away from that trip?

Oh gosh, that trip was so special. Just from a creative career standpoint I suppose, it was really cool to get to play for this city. And we got to donate all of my proceeds to this organization called Dipaigo, which provides healthcare for women and girls in the Philippines, which was really, really special for me.

And just on a personal level, I had just never been to the Philippines and I wasn’t born there. I don’t speak Tagalog very well. I kind of had a chip on my shoulder like, oh gosh, I hope that they accept me and they see me as a Filipino and I’m a source of pride for them. I always wanted that to be the case. And then being able to go there and visit and just see how warmly they embraced me and welcomed me, it really meant so much to me.

And yeah, I love the Philippines so much and I can’t wait to go back. And I’m just so grateful to everyone for just welcoming me with open arms. It meant so much.

Do you have plans to go back?

I think next year, I really want to go. I went to Manila, but I really want to go to some of the islands next year and swim in the beautiful oceans and see all the beaches. That’s on the agenda.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.