Annie Joaquin
Staff Writer
Deemed by Billboard as one of our generation’s biggest pop stars, Taylor Swift continues to prove her dominance with the release of her album “The Life of a Showgirl” (“TLOAS”). Well-known for tracks such as “Blank Space” and “Anti-Hero,” Swift has become one of the biggest names in the music industry, cementing her legacy thanks to her immense fame and success. While guest-starring on her boyfriend and professional football player Travis Kelce’s podcast, “New Heights,” Swift announced the release of “TLOAS” sparking much excitement from fans and groans from critics.
The announcement of her twelfth studio album alongside her partner of two years, Kelce, was a fitting choice for this particular record, as the main themes revolve around her relationship with him as well as her stardom within and beyond the music industry.
Upon first listen to the album itself, it was indeed very reminiscent of Swift’s signature pop style, with catchy and commercial beat progressions as well as easy-to-digest lyrics that tie the whole record together. “TLOAS” incorporates elements of country rock and soft rock, resulting in a project that breaks away from the indie-folk sound of Swift’s more recent releases, such as “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Tracks such as “Opalite” and “CANCELLED!” stand out as electrifying songs, offering lyrics that go deep into Swift and Kelce’s romantic relationship as well as Swift’s life in the beaming spotlight, all while holding catchy beats! The album also includes a feature from Sabrina Carpenter in the last track, titled “The Life of a Showgirl.” This track is an exquisite example of two voices that flow skillfully together.
However, despite being named one of the world’s biggest and most successful songwriters, many believe that Swift leveraged the intense dedication of her large fan base to create a sloppy, poorly-written, “cash grab” album.
Users on social media forums, such as Reddit, have complained about the album’s lackluster lyrics and mechanical beat production, expecting a more unique and riveting sound to match the album’s “showgirl” theme. A Reddit user by the username of @yeabouai commented, “I think she’s found the formula that works to get hundreds of millions of people raving, and is now just sticking with it. Swifties still eat it up, and it’s not a lot of effort.”
Additionally, popular online music magazine “Pitchfork” ended their review of Swift’s album with similar sentiments, saying “The rest of the time, ‘Showgirl’ sounds like much of the pop music you have heard over the past 10 years and throughout your lifetime; it asks that this time, you listen more closely, because this is Taylor Swift, with the enormity of commercial power and cultural significance and algorithmic rank that implies.”
Many of Swift’s fans were left disappointed and hungry for a more satisfying release. Despite this, the album has already garnered millions of streams on music platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music and even placed No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts within the first week of release.
The success of Swift’s “TLOAS” and any studio albums she releases in the future seems inevitable. As one of the biggest names in the industry, Swift has come to realize that whatever she spews out will eventually worm its way onto the top of the Billboard charts, resulting in the “cash-grab” title that befell “TLOAS.”
Whether this was truly the case for Swift’s latest release, there is no contest to the album’s flowy and melodic tunes that leave the listener swaying their head to the beat.