With the current hip-hop civil war going on, I didn’t know there was a new Taylor Swift album, until I saw people’s Instagram stories on my feed. This Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef is good for the rap game as a whole, because it gets people talking and is actually great for self-promotion. I’d be surprised if neither Drake nor Kendrick Lamar drops an album this year. Anyways, The Tortured Poets Department is the eleventh solo album by pop singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Recently she’s been busy with her ongoing Eras Tour, performing worldwide. She’s also been re-recording her past studio albums, attaching “Taylor’s Version,” to the end of each one. She doesn’t really need any further introduction, as she’s famous worldwide and has produced multiple hits. Taylor’s music isn’t really my thing, but I’m gonna give it a fair shot.
The album doesn’t sound too much different than her previous album, Midnights, as it continues the synth-pop sound of that record. “Fortnight,” features Post Malone, although he doesn’t really add that much to the track. Post is a pretty talented artist, so I was disappointed that his feature didn’t stand out more. I like the laidback synth-heavy production, though. “The Tortured Poets Department,” has soft airy instrumentation, and like most of this album, it’s well produced by Jack Antonoff, but it just feels like every Taylor Swift love song I’ve heard before, although this time she swears by saying “fuck.” That was the only thing that surprised me about this track, I didn’t know that she swore in her music now. It does sound like an 80s ballad, so it accomplishes its goals, but the songwriting is weak. “You smoked, then ate seven bars of chocolate. We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.”
It’s a forgettable track. “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys,” sounds a bit like Lorde’s hit track, “Tennis Court,” and likens an ex to a “boy,” and I respect the analogy, I guess, but I feel like the breakup tracks she does have become extremely stale, at this point. I feel like she’s just making the same failed relationship track, without adding anything interesting or new. Not really reinventing the wheel, and the sound isn’t a big change from what I’m used to hearing from her. “Down Bad,” has a lo-fi instrumental that’s pleasant on the ears, and Taylor’s vocal range is solid, but it’s an example of “I’m a teenage white girl and this is deep,” type of track.
I will say the production is well-done on this track, and it’s not as bad as the previous track. “So Long, London,” is yet another breakup track, (you can probably sense a pattern here). I don’t know why she makes so many breakup anthems when she’s happy in a relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce. Like dude, sing about how much you love him, sing about how you feel about your fame, please do something different than a breakup track, because then I have to review it. “But Daddy I Love Him,” has a folksy sound which is a departure from the other more electronic sounding tracks. Taylor’s voice is soothing, the vocal harmonies are pleasant and I like the acoustic ballad-like sound of the track. This one’s actually one of my favorites on the album, because of the sound, and because it’s not a tired-out breakup song.
The instrumentation and production on this album is incredibly well orchestrated, I like the reverbed guitars and drum machine patterns of “Fresh Out the Slammer,” and another track I like, mainly for the feature, is “Florida!!!,” featuring Florence and the Machine. Framing the state of Florida as an escape from her problems. Florence Welch’s voice sounds at home over the glitzy instrumental. I like the lyric, “The hurricane with my name when it came. I got drunk and I dared it to wash me away.” Another highlight off the album. One of the biggest problems with this album, isn’t Taylor Swift’s singing, it’s multiple breakup tracks made about the same dudes, an example: Matty Healy the frontman of the band,The 1975. “Guilty as Sin?,” is another reference to Matty Healy with some not so subtle lyrics where she references him sending her a Blue Nile song, which according to Healy, is one of his favorite bands. “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” is another overly long pop ballad that changes things up and goes after her critics. I don’t have anything against Taylor Swift as a person, and maybe the criticism she gets is a bit harsh, but she’s a public figure, and all of her relationships and her life is very open to the public. I do think that a lot of female celebrities get treated horribly by the media, but compared to other artists like Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears, Taylor is treated relatively well by the media. Sure her relationships are criticized, but like, compared to other women in art, her problems are so trivial, so I think its kinda childish for her to act as if she’s the target of some massive witch hunt. “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” is a welcome change of pace, as a slow acoustic ballad, and reminds me of a Lana del Rey track at some points. I love the guitar progressions and Taylor’s voice sounds great on this track. It’s probably the best track on the album, in my opinion. I like that it’s not a breakup track, but rather a track where she wants to be able to fix someone who clearly isn’t the right one for her. “Loml,” is a boring piano ballad that would’ve benefited from being two minutes shorter, and is, once again, another track about a shitty boyfriend. I do like that “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” has a different approach than many of the tracks on this album, basically saying that she gets sad and experiences normal human emotions, even if she seems happy in public, however the ex-boyfriend moments of this track are eye-roll worthy. The track had potential. “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” is a piano ballad ruined by lyrics such as, “I would’ve died for your sins, instead, I just died inside.” The album finishes on a weak note with the tracks, “The Alchemy,” and “Clara Bow.” For a synth pop album, I expected to hear more synth pop tracks, instead it’s mostly just ballads that repeat the same themes of heartbreak and that sort of thing.
Overall, I didn’t go into this album expecting to be blown away, as again, I’m not a Swiftie, and never have been. Still, this album was critically acclaimed by outlets like Rolling Stone. Like seriously? This album is extremely boring. The sound isn’t radically different than Taylor’s last album, and it’s just overall incredibly taxing to listen to. I don’t mind songs about heartbreak, but this album is literally just the same theme repeated over different instrumentals. And the “synth-pop” genre for this album is four tracks at most. I went in expecting an electronic sound, and I was left incredibly disappointed. There are a few highlights on this album, but it’s overly long, monotonous, and a rehash of past Taylor Swift ideas.
Overall Score: 4/10
Favorite Tracks: “But Daddy I Love Him,” “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” “Florida!!!”
Least Favorite Tracks: “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3zqJs7JUCQ
Genre: Bedroom Pop