Taylor Swift’s new album features a thunderous collaboration with Florence Welch, providing a more theatrical and dynamic aesthetic. Another standout track, “Guilty as Sin?,” frames Swift’s voice in a ’90s soft-rock atmosphere. Swift’s crisp lyrics paint vivid images of messy kisses and friends smelling like weed or babies. However, a revenge song called “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” lacks the humor and irony seen in her previous work.
Unlike Beyoncé, who addresses societal issues in her music, Swift’s album remains focused on her internal world. She targets less famous exes and critiquing judgmental “wine moms” in songs like “But Daddy I Love Him.” Yet, Swift’s songs often lack a deeper exploration of power dynamics and gender roles, leading to a hermetic perspective centered on romantic love. Despite featuring some satisfyingly vicious breakup songs, the album lacks the depth and taut structure of her previous work.
Swift has integrated a love of language into her promotion of the album, using hand-typed lyrics, sponsored library installations, and an epilogue written in verse. While Swift’s writing showcases a fascination with language and rhyme, poetry is not just a marketing strategy or aesthetic – it is a way of looking at the world. In poetry, less is often more, a principle that may be missing in Swift’s latest work.
Overall, Swift’s album presents a mix of thunderous collaborations, vivid imagery, and revenge songs that lack the humor and depth of her previous work. While her focus on internal experiences and romantic love is evident throughout the album, a lack of exploration of power dynamics and gender roles leaves the album feeling somewhat one-dimensional. Despite showcasing a love of language and rhyme in her writing, Swift may benefit from delving deeper into the complexities of her themes and narratives to create a more nuanced and impactful body of work.
