Juliet Stouffer
On Friday, Oct. 3, when the clock hit midnight — or 11 p.m. for those of us on Central time — Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated 12th studio album “The Life of a Showgirl” was released.
The album strikes a balance between complex literary references and catchy pop hooks: including references to Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” on track one, “The Fate of Ophelia,” early Hollywood on the song “Elizabeth Taylor,” and more. At the same time, it’s the first Taylor Swift album in a while that feels like it was written to be danced to at a club or belted into a hairbrush in a Midwestern teen’s bedroom. This is, in part, due to former album producers Max Martin and Shellback replacing Swift’s longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff on this album. Martin and Shellback have collaborated with Swift in the past on some of her most popular songs, including “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “22.”
The album includes 12 tracks, with Swift specifically stating on her “New Heights” podcast appearance that there will not be any extra content released along with the album. This did not stop fans from speculating that surprise bonus content would be released, but as of now, Swift has been true to her word, which is to the album’s benefit. After the behemoth amount of music on “The Tortured Poets Department,” it’s refreshing to see a shorter tracklist in this arguably more concise and polished record. The balance between sonic cohesiveness and tracks that don’t sound so similar that they melt together is a tough line to walk for any album. However, I’d argue this album largely succeeds in that respect.
Lyrically, the album has received a lot of criticism in the days following its release. However, to me, it sounds like an album that someone in love would write. Swift mentions fiancé Travis Kelce’s podcast, referring to reaching “new heights of manhood” in innuendo-packed song “Wood,” as well as referencing his birthstone in the song “Opalite.” Kelce is all over this album and, as someone who has followed her career and witnessed every heartbreak, I’m happy enough to see her happy that I can forgive a little corniness. The exception to that rule being track five, “Eldest Daughter,” which was a hard listen for me. Overall, I don’t find this record to be noticeably weaker or less lyrically complex than anything she’s written in the past.
Exciting for fans of “Folklore” and “Evermore” this album returns to the narrative storytelling of those albums, with Swift taking on the perspective of her own imagined characters in “Father Figure” and “The Life of a Showgirl (ft. Sabrina Carpenter).” Those songs give the listener a glimpse into the world of fictional showgirl Kitty: “Her name was Kitty/ Made her money being pretty and witty.” This storyline, along with the visual elements in the album artwork and “The Fate Of Ophelia” music video, makes for a compelling lens that Swift uses to reflect on her career and her personal life. With so many eyes on the album and the varied tastes of her wide fanbase, any music that Swift releases is bound to be controversial, but for those of us in need of some recession-pop bangers to dance to, this album does not disappoint.