Taylor Swift released her new album “The Life of a Showgirl,” her most divisive work yet, on Friday, sending fans and critics into a tailspin.
The album, successor to the melancholic “The Tortured Poets Department,” was marketed as a return to form for Swift, reuniting with “1989” producers Max Martin and Shellback. Some on the internet have called it AI slop and some have called it her best work to date. My opinion lies somewhere in the middle.
The highs of the album are high, but the lows are valleys in the sprawling landscape of Swift’s career.
“The Fate of Ophelia” is a strong album opener, already a standout on the charts and in fan reception. The track has all the Swift signatures: an addictive pre-chorus, vivid imagery and literary references. The same sentiments could be held for the third track, “Opalite,” a catchy tune reminiscent of Swift’s 2019 album, “Lover.”
If Swift and her new fiance, NFL star Travis Kelce, are the primary subjects of the album, fame is the supporting character. In the bass-driven “Elizabeth Taylor,” Swift calls out to the old-Hollywood icon with a plea that her lover doesn’t shy from the spotlight. The song brings back a production style and swagger missing from Swift’s music for the last several years, a reward for longtime fans and likely the closest to a taste of “reputation (Taylor’s Version)” we’ll ever get.
The peak of the album for me is the sixth track, “Ruin the Friendship.” As the rest of the album can struggle to center itself, this song is anchored in what made Swift a mega-star in the first place: magnificent storytelling with an emotional punch.
“Wi$h Li$t” and “Honey” fall short. In an attempt to echo the blase attitude toward fame and lovestruck tone of “reputation,” Swift ended up with songs that sound like the 2017 album’s rejects.
Capping off the album is the titular track, “Life of a Showgirl,” featuring Swift’s Eras Tour opener and five-foot-tall chart dominator Sabrina Carpenter. The song has received flack for sounding too much like a musical theater song, but it makes sense in the context of both artists’ upbringings. The song’s structure and world-building references artists like The Chicks and Shania Twain, who like myself, the singers have said they grew up listening to and draw inspiration from.
There isn’t anything inherently wrong with experimenting, especially in the context of Swift’s chameleon-like career.The fanbase criticized each album for being a deviation too far from the last. With an audience divided in their loyalty to each genre, it was impossible for Swift to live up to expectations. An indie record would’ve disappointed fans of her pop music, and vice versa.
That criticism aside, this album is closer to Swift’s 2019 album “Lover” than anything she’s made since, reverting to the style of pop music that her fans historically love the least. Is this her worst album? No, far from it. This is nowhere near her best work in terms of writing or production, but that doesn’t make it an inherently bad album. It’s good. Not great, not horrible. Just good.
Taking the last 498 words of defense into account, I still have only listened to “Eldest Daughter” once. Sometimes millennials make music for other millennials and maybe it’s time we accept that.
