Taylor Swift Comes Back as a Showgirl and It Totally Rules
Taylor Swift is back! Taylor Swift 12, The Life of a Showgirl, is Taylor’s first post-Eras tour era album, and on first listen, it serves…
First, Taylor is HAPPY and she shows it. If this album doesn’t make you smile, you might want to check on your cold, black heart. Her relationship with sportsballer Travis Kelce clearly is working for her.
Second, moving back to Max Martin and Shellback is a turn, but not a step backward. Rather, it’s like putting your favorite epic books (Antonoff/Desner) on the shelf and grabbing a comfort book instead. This album is a bop, shedding the folk/indie rock of the ‘ore albums and stepping back from the sprawling epicness of TTPD.
1989+Reputation (Midnights) = The Life of a Showgirl.
Taylor feels at home here, and despite this album standing firmly on its own, songs reach back and touch influences from her own albums (Elizabeth Taylor evokes the last great american dynasty, for example) and takes influences from all over the music world (George Michael on Father Figure, obviously, Weezer on Actually Romantic, Jackson 5/Mowtown on Wood, and Sabrina Carpenter on the title track).
CANCELLED! is straight up Rep vibes and makes me want those Rep vault tracks like now.
The title track is a Sabrina Carpenter song, and I will not be taking questions at this time. Taylor and Sabrina are perfect together. Their vocals and styles match so well.
Taylor’s vocals are as breathless and mature as ever, strongest on tracks like Eldest Daughter and The Fate of Ophelia. Again, while those songs fit on this record, they echo folklore and evermore. Woodvale tracks, perhaps?
I think this album slots right among Taylor’s best. Honestly, it may already be one of my favorites.
Highlights include: Actually Romantic, Wood, Eldest Daughter, and the title track. This is more than a solid album; it’s another example of Taylor Swift being one of the best songwriters of all time. Crafting songs that evoke memories and emotions, make you want to scream and dance, and burrow themselves mercilessly into your ear, brain, and heart. While haters gonna hate, the truth is there’s a Taylor Swift for almost everyone. From country to indie rock to pop she’s a multi-genre artist making some of the most memorable songs in decades.
Actually Romantic is my favorite track, a Weezer song through and through that would also feel right at home in Olivia Rodrigo’s catalogue. It’s this album’s Cruel Summer.
We definitely need something positive and happy right now, and Taylor has delivered a tour de force with Showgirl, kicking off a new era and giving us new classics to scream along to in our cars, offices, and hopefully someday soon, arenas.
