Taylor Swift’s new album is here, and it’s proof she needs to take a break

1 week ago 11

Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department

At this stage, a Taylor Swift medium merchandise is simply a capital-E Event. She’s the busiest pistillate successful the world, with her record-breaking Eras Tour selling retired stadiums astir the globe – truthful it was a astonishment when, successful her Grammys acceptance speech successful February, Swift announced that her 11th medium would beryllium released successful April.

The anticipation has been strong, peculiarly fixed it is her archetypal grounds since her divided with Joe Alwyn, her histrion spouse of six-and-a-half years, this clip past year. Was this going to beryllium the large breakup album?

Swift exorcises her past relationships with Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy connected an medium apt to disagreement fans.

Swift’s idiosyncratic beingness is present inextricable from her music, and often dominates treatment of it. For 2020’s folklore and evermore, she moved distant from the diaristic benignant of writing, but it’s backmost for The Tortured Poets Department – and the absorption volition apt beryllium connected the revelations within, acold much than the euphony itself.

So let’s speech astir the music. Swift’s 2 go-to co-writers are producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, each with their ain distinctive sound. The Antonoff tracks present are by-the-numbers – his synth-pop is truthful instantly recognisable that it’s wearing connected predictable.

The Tortured Poets Department trades memorable hooks for a venomous watercourse of consciousness.

Dessner, who’s besides a subordinate of indie stone set The National and came connected committee Team Swift for her pandemic albums, has a softer, often piano-led palette that brings retired much affectional nuance. So Long, London is a highlight, opening with a textured choral collage and blooming into Dessner’s instrumentality connected synth-pop.

Artist features are becoming much communal connected Swift albums. Opening way Fortnight relegates Post Malone astir to the inheritance – the aforesaid attraction Lana Del Rey was fixed connected Midnights′ Snow connected the Beach, which is comic due to the fact that the way sounds similar a beauteous bully approximation of Del Rey’s music. Florida!!! gives British creator Florence Welch abstraction to shine; it’s cinematic and sweeping, and the 2 singers’ voices supply gorgeous foils to 1 different earlier blending for the chorus. Swift’s dependable is successful good signifier astatine points crossed the record, specified arsenic connected the soaring chorus of Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?.

Sonically, this medium is cohesive but not groundbreaking – we’ve heard overmuch of this from Swift before. It slots neatly determination betwixt 1989 and Midnights, with much than a spot of similarity with different Antonoff-produced band, The 1975, the vocalist of which, Matty Healy, overmuch of this grounds seems to beryllium astir aft a short-lived but highly publicised fling past year.

This is an medium review, not a personage gossip column, but it’s hard not to speculate astir this record’s incredibly circumstantial lyrics, peculiarly due to the fact that puzzle-solving has go portion and parcel of being a Taylor Swift fan.

The twinkling rubric way references a “tattooed aureate retriever” and name-drops 2 friends successful 1 of the worst lyrics connected the medium which hints at, and seemingly glorifies, a toxic relationship. “You smoked past ate 7 bars of chocolate/ We declared Charlie Puth should beryllium a bigger artist/ I scratch your head, you autumn dormant similar a tattooed aureate retriever.”

If that’s the shot, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived is the chaser, a classical Dessner-sounding opus that’s afloat of axenic Swiftian venom.

Taylor Swift and her then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn astatine the 2020 Golden Globes.

The pointed But Daddy I Love Him straight calls retired her parasocial fans: “I’ll archer you thing astir my bully name: it’s excavation unsocial to disgrace / I don’t cater to each these vipers dressed successful empath’s covering / God prevention the astir judgmental creeps who accidental they privation what’s champion for me, sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll ne'er see.” Ouch.

These verbose lyrics are communal crossed the album, mostly astatine the disbursal of memorable hooks. These songs consciousness much similar streams of consciousness oregon exorcisms, often with each the extent of an angsty teen penning Tumblr poetry. In an accompanying written feature, Swift describes her “temporary insanity” from a “mutual manic phase”, which mightiness spell immoderate mode to explaining immoderate of her choices here.

The Tortured Poets Department volition beryllium divisive. It’s antithetic to what the teaser images suggested – there’s little creation and extent present than that – and overmuch of it volition beryllium baffling to those who aren’t profoundly versed successful Swift lore. There’s nary denying that Swift is simply a skilled songwriter, and immoderate of these songs are slow-burn growers, but erstwhile she sings “I outcry a lot, but I americium truthful productive, it’s an art” connected I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, 1 can’t assistance but wonderment whether taking a interruption mightiness beryllium the champion tonic of all.

Get a play wrapper of views that volition challenge, champion and pass your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter.