14-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor Swift, released her eagerly anticipated, 11th studio album April 19 and broke the record for the most-streamed album in a single day on Spotify. “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT” is a perfect example of what Swift does best: bottling the essence of her raw feelings and sharing it with her fans, the ‘Swifties’. The new album contains 16 different songs featuring a range of different themes from anger to loss as it tells the story of a failing relationship.
Sonically, the album feels very cohesive. The standard edition falls into the synth-pop genre and is comparable to the sound of her previous album, “Midnights.” If “Midnights” was a shiny, bedazzled jewel, “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT” would be the rusted version of it, with all of the feel-good elements trapped under a tainted layer of film. Lyrically, Swift masterfully weaves the tale of her past relationships in a sophisticated way that feels more moody and conceptual than her previous albums.
Many of the songs feature simple, repetitive verses and choruses, only picking up speed at the emphasized bridge or outro, which serves as the climax. One of these cases is the lead single, “Fortnight,” featuring fellow pop artist Post Malone. Although Post Malone does not get a verse to himself, he shines in the bridge and his and Swift’s voices blend together beautifully throughout the song. With lyrics such as “I love you, it’s ruining my life/I touched you for only a fortnight,” it represents the dejected feeling of losing a lover too soon. The other artist collaboration on the album, “Florida!!!,” features Florence + the Machine. It is one of the more experimental songs on the album and Swift’s execution and the production of the song are perfect. “Florida!!!” widely resembles the mysterious, indie rock aesthetic of a Florence + the Machine song, with powerful chords and drums in the chorus. Lyrics like “I need to forget, so take me to Florida/I’ve got some regrets, I’ll bury them in Florida” explore the theme of escapism, even if it’s temporary.
As always, Swift drops hints in each song that allude to who or what it is about. She also purposefully places the most emotional song as the fifth track of each album, so Swifties quickly realized that “So Long, London” is about the end of her six-year relationship with British actor, Joe Alwyn. The song is an abrupt contrast to her cheery love song “London Boy”, which is also about Alwyn, from her 2019 album Lover. “So Long, London” ingeniously extends the metaphor over the death of her relationship through personification like “I stoppеd CPR, after all, it’s no use/The spirit was gonе, we would never come to.” This connects back to the first song Swift released after news of their break-up came out last year, “You’re Losing Me,” where she sings “I can’t find a pulse/My heart won’t start anymore.” She grieves as she meaningfully establishes the finality of the death of her past relationship. This deep sadness is also seen in “loml,” which is one of the only low-production piano songs on the album. Unlike the popular acronym, “loml,” which stands for the “love of my life,” Swift’s acronym stands for the “loss of my life,” and the song feels reminiscent of her “evermore” album. Swift’s voice certainly suits acoustic songs like these, taking on a comforting, nostalgic tone, which is seen in more songs in “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY” edition of the album that she surprise-dropped at 2 a.m. EST on the album release day.
However, that’s not to say there are no love songs on the album. Fans believe multiple songs, including “But Daddy I Love Him,” are about lead singer of The 1975 Matty Healy, whom Swift briefly dated last summer. She sings about loving someone controversial, despite public backlash about their relationship. Swifties also believe “The Alchemy,” is about her newest relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, which contributes to a nicely well-rounded album about the different stages of breaking up and moving on. Ironically, though, the most upbeat song is “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.” Swift seemingly describes her experience performing on the Eras Tour last year and how “All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting, ‘More’/I was grinnin’ like I’m winnin’/I was hittin’ my marks/’Cause I can do it with a broken heart.” She brilliantly uses a cheerful melody to symbolize the facade of happiness she put on while performing even though she felt heartbroken inside.
The album ends with “Clara Bow,” which is named after a popular film star in the 1920s. The parallels between the opening line, “You look like Clara Bow/In this light, remarkable,” to two of the closing lines, “You look like Taylor Swift/In this light, we’re lovin’ it,” present the idea of the endless cycle of new “it-girls” every era. Swift creates a nostalgic, full-circle moment as she realizes she achieved her dreams while also acknowledging the possibility of being replaced by someone new in the upcoming generation.
“THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT” as a unit is a wonderfully thought-out yet authentic album that satisfies the high expectations of many Swifties. Although the sonic cohesiveness of the album is perfect, some of the songs tend to drag on because of the repetitive choruses. While this repetition emphasizes the bridges and adds to the essence of the songs, it feels like Swift found a comfortable sound and stuck with it, choosing to not experiment too much. Despite this, the album has all the elements of a quintessential album about love and heartbreak that one would expect. Additionally, the 15 other songs on “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY” truly complete the album and take it to the next level.
