After months of cryptic messages, Easter eggs and suspense, Taylor Swift released her 12th album, “The Life of a Show Girl.” The album was released on Oct. 3rd alongside the official release party movie, which would only run for the weekend. The movie gave Swifties an inside look into the making of the music video for “The Fate of Ophelia” and her lyric videos.
Leading up to the release, the album itself was described or thought to be an album with her “1989” beat but with a “Red” or “Folklore” type lyrics, but “The Life of a Showgirl” is unlike any of her other albums. This album tells its own story, as the life of a showgirl, as Taylor, or as the fan listening.
Throughout the 12 tracks, Swift tells the story of showgirls throughout the decades, dancing, superstitions and the desire to be a showgirl, but without realizing the difficulties. Swift speaks to the desire to want to be the best in your field, while also diving into aspects of her life today; such as the difficulties with being the eldest daughter and her relationship with her fiancé Travis Kelce intertwined into various songs.
The use and incorporation of condescending words like “honey” and “sweetheart” included in Swifts song “Honey” shows the many aspects of a celebrity’s life and how so much of their life is being belittled by society and dealing with the challenges of fame. The songs of this album tell the many stories of celebrities dealing with scrutiny because of fame and attention shedding light on the difficulties of their field.
The album is nothing like what she has written before, because it is tamer than “Reputation” but tells an entirely different story than her prior work. It is a complete 180 from “The Tortured Poets Department”, while simultaneously fitting the era of her life perfectly.
With every album release, no matter the artist, fans have to listen to it once to digest the beat, the lyrics and ultimately the work you have never heard before. That first time listening I was unsure how I felt about it, as there were similarities to her past work, but it also felt like the first time she was giving us a story of her life on a platter without her fans having to dissect it.
The second time listening through the album, I knew what to expect. I personally felt this allowed me to understand what I was listening to and enjoy the album to a much higher extent.
After listening to the album for a second time, I attended the release party movie. I think Swift, choosing to record the process of putting an album together and pushing that out for only a weekend, incentivizes her fans to go see it. Beyond that, it instills a sense of appreciation among her fans for the work that Swift puts in.
This new album is the start of a new chapter for Swift, one where she may not be as in the spotlight as she once was. This album marks the beginning of her story-telling chapter of music. She has told her own story for the longest time, but now she is starting to tell other people’s stories and challenge her creative flow that way.
On the whole, this is one of her best albums. It shows how she can switch from upbeat pop to breakup albums to telling the story of a show girl and the background of her career. Not only does she switch what areas of pop she writes in, but she is able to change her writing style alongside that and include truly master storytelling from all sides.
The movie was also very good; as a fan I liked seeing behind-the-scenes and all of the work that is put into her music. I like that there was only a certain period that fans could see it because it makes it feel more exclusive to those who did go.
Overall, I really liked this new album and the addition of the release party movie, it makes me excited to see what Swift does for albums down the road.
