Taylor Swift has controlled the pop charts for almost 20 years, releasing 11 records in that time. Now she has officially published her twelfth studio album. For die-hard Swifites, this is not a surprise though, Taylor has been teasing this album since mid-August with a countdown on her website and a mysterious video including a suitcase with the initials “T.S.” embedded into it. This all combined into an October 3rd release of Taylor’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl.
The album starts strong. The first four songs capture that classic Taylor charm, catchy confident, and full of the magic juice” that’s defined her career. A standout in the album, Opalite, is a very groovy, almost country, song that doesn’t pull any punches with the instrumentation. It all feels just like classic Taylor, like she’s getting back to her roots. Those songs all lead into a piano ballad, which on the surface feels emotional but after the tiniest bit of active listening, it’s revealed that it is a very out of touch song. The lyrics read more like something out of Dork diaries than from a 35-year old artist known for her depth and storytelling.
That disconnect becomes a recurring theme throughout the rest of the album. swift seems to lose the spark that ignited the opening tracks. Every song, with few exceptions, has that same out of touch, corporate lyrics with mediocre instrumentation. Many songs, like “Actually Romantic,” “Wi$h Li$t,” and “CANCELLED,” feel like the lyrics were made like a team of directors full of 20 people who have never touched an instrument.
It’s not all bad though, songs such as “Wood” and “Honey” feel like they come at least partly from the heart. “Honey” especially feels as though it came from Taylor alone, talking about how she used to hate pet names until she met Travis Kelce, her new boyfriend, because they all usually meant something bad.
Ultimately, The Life of a Showgirl isn”t Taylor’s best work, and that;s okay. It feels like a transitional record, a brief intermission before something bigger. Songs like “Wi$h Li$t” hint that she may be preparing to settle down, and many fans believe her upcoming 13th album could be her grand finale.
releasing this album as a holdover as she prepares for her 13th album, which according to many theorists, might be her last.
