The singer-songwriter appeared solo for the soaring ballad on Thursday
Olivia Rodrigo stripped down the drum-driven pop track “Vampire” for a live YouTube performance on Thursday.
The singer-songwriter appeared solo, while playing the single on an elegant grand piano. “I should’ve known it was strange you only come out at night,” she sings. For the chorus, Rodrigo references vampire-lore, belting out: “Bloodsucker/Fame-fucker/Bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire.”
Last week, the emotional ballad kicked off the rollout of the Grammy winner’s sophomore album, Guts. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Rodrigo said “Vampire” was fueled from a personal experience, and that a song that felt perfect for the title poured out of her.
“I just sat down at the piano one day and played these chords that felt kind of gothic to me,” she told Rolling Stone of her new single. “I think there’s a lot of vampire lore to be played with like ‘You only come out at night’ and stuff like that. There’s a lot of fun songwriting fodder in there.”
Rodrigo began working on “Vampire” at Electric Lady Studios in late 2022, and the sound also ended up informing the rest of Guts, which will be released on Sept. 8.
“I feel like I grew 10 years between the ages of 18 and 20 — it was such an intense period of awkwardness and change,” she previously wrote in a statement on her upcoming record. “I think that’s all just a natural part of growth, and hopefully the album reflects that.”