Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is Messy, Unguarded And Undeniably Triumphant: Critic’s Take
One of the constants of Taylor Swift’s storied career has been the chances she’s taken at the precise moment when taking a chance wasn’t necessary. She was a country superstar who didn’t need to go pop; she was less than a year removed from a major pop album and didn’t need to take an indie-folk detour; she was in the middle of a blockbuster run of new albums and didn’t need to re-record her old ones. Time and again, Swift has identified artistic opportunities that other stars would have blanched at (or at the very least, set aside for a different time, so as to not muck up any professional momentum), and she has leapt into them fearlessly, always coming out on top.
So right now – in the middle of a mega-selling stadium tour, after a record-breaking fourth album of the year Grammy win, in a high-profile new romance and at the commercial zenith of an already all-time career – is, naturally, the time Swift has chosen to release a knowingly messy, wildly unguarded breakup album.
She didn’t have to do this! But then again, making an album like The Tortured Poets Department is exactly what separates Swift from her more careful peers. Challenging herself to shape-shift, to accomplish something new at the moment anyone else would rest on their laurels, is what makes her so fascinating.
Swift has written plenty of songs that revel in post-breakup hurt across her catalog, but The Tortured Poets Department is both more mature – the teen slings and arrows naturally evolving into adult entanglements and emotional affairs – and more pissed-off, with unbridled emotion and unkempt drama often taking center stage. There will be a lot of guessing about who each song is about, considering that the album was created in the wake of her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn ending, a brief romance with The 1975’s Matty Healy, and the start of her relationship with football star Travis Kelce. But the male subjects are besides the point: Swift is a hurricane across the album, blowing the doors off of the agonizing details of her recent reality.
Furious rhetorical questions and errors in judgment dot the Tortured Poets Department lyrics, as Swift aims at a target beyond vulnerability, that allows her wide listenership to understand her heart and mind. In a career defined by her songwriting, Swift has never placed so much emphasis on her words – the production, courtesy of Swift and close collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, seems to evaporate at points, the music almost incidental compared to the lyrics. The warm synth-pop of Midnights serves as the closest reference point, but that album was cleanly orchestrated, while The Tortured Poets Department wants to get in the mud with soft-loud dissonance and tracklist sprawl. Really, the album is in conversation with her entire catalog – a country-pop chorus here, a Folklore folk tale there – while still making time to explore the unknown.
The Tortured Poets Department is extreme in its emotions and uninterested in traditional hits; not everyone will love it, but the ones who get it will adore it fiercely. As Swift continues this current astonishing run of superstardom, she has once again pushed herself to strike a new pose. It’s what makes her special – and what turns The Tortured Poets Department into yet another triumph.
More from Billboard
News Related
-
Window opens for Zahid to ride off into the sunset – but at Anwar’s cost Sources within Umno have not ruled out strong speculation since last month about a so-called “exit plan” for Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, a move that could pave the way for his political retirement having survived more ...
See Details:
Window opens for Zahid to ride off into the sunset – but at Anwar's cost
-
Brianna Ghey died after she was found with fatal stab wounds in a park Two teenagers accused of murdering Brianna Ghey showed a “preoccupation” with “violence, torture and death”, a court has heard. The body of Brianna, 16, who was transgender, was discovered by dog walkers in a park in ...
See Details:
Murder-accused teens 'had preoccupation with torture'
-
ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY Guard Corps Commander-in-Cheif Major General Hossein Salami speaks at an anti-Israel protest in Tehran on Saturday. The IRGC trained Hezbollah to use human shields, say the writers. The conflict in Gaza has raised a deeply troubling issue: Reports suggest that Hamas is deliberately using civilians as shields, a ...
See Details:
A plea for Islamic voices against using human shields - opinion
-
Photo for illustration purposes only. – BERNAMA FILE PIX SHAH ALAM – The government needs to strengthen the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme, especially with the exemption of visas for Chinese and Indian citizens visiting the country starting Dec 1. Universiti Tun Abdul Razak economic expert Emeritus Professor Dr ...
See Details:
Strengthen MM2H programme, promote multiple entry visa
-
GEG element removed from anti-smoking Bill KUALA LUMPUR: The generational end-game (GEG) element has been removed from the revised Control of Smoking Products for Public Health 2023 Bill tabled for the first reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Nov 28). This is as the Health Ministry tries for the ...
See Details:
GEG element removed from anti-smoking Bill
-
-
-
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): National carrier Malaysia Airlines Bhd has launched its year-end sale with ticket prices starting from RM79 to domestic destinations and from RM229 to international destinations, for travellers who book flights between Nov 28 and Dec 11 this year. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said all-in one-way Economy Class ...
See Details:
Malaysia Airlines launches year-end sale
-
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): National carrier Malaysia Airlines Bhd has launched its year-end sale with ticket prices starting from RM79 to domestic destinations and from RM229 to international destinations, for travellers who book flights between Nov 28 and Dec 11 this year. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said all-in one-way Economy Class ...
See Details:
Dr M accuses govt of bribery over allocations
-
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): National carrier Malaysia Airlines Bhd has launched its year-end sale with ticket prices starting from RM79 to domestic destinations and from RM229 to international destinations, for travellers who book flights between Nov 28 and Dec 11 this year. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said all-in one-way Economy Class ...
See Details:
Malaysia to check if the Netherlands still keen to send flood experts
-
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): National carrier Malaysia Airlines Bhd has launched its year-end sale with ticket prices starting from RM79 to domestic destinations and from RM229 to international destinations, for travellers who book flights between Nov 28 and Dec 11 this year. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said all-in one-way Economy Class ...
See Details:
Appeals court to rule in Isa’s graft case on Jan 31
-
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): National carrier Malaysia Airlines Bhd has launched its year-end sale with ticket prices starting from RM79 to domestic destinations and from RM229 to international destinations, for travellers who book flights between Nov 28 and Dec 11 this year. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said all-in one-way Economy Class ...
See Details:
Elephants Trample On Axia With Family Of Three Inside
-
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): National carrier Malaysia Airlines Bhd has launched its year-end sale with ticket prices starting from RM79 to domestic destinations and from RM229 to international destinations, for travellers who book flights between Nov 28 and Dec 11 this year. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said all-in one-way Economy Class ...
See Details:
Sirul fitted with monitoring device
-
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): National carrier Malaysia Airlines Bhd has launched its year-end sale with ticket prices starting from RM79 to domestic destinations and from RM229 to international destinations, for travellers who book flights between Nov 28 and Dec 11 this year. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said all-in one-way Economy Class ...
See Details:
Nigerian airliner lands at wrong airport
OTHER NEWS
THOSE looking for fresh produce may find themselves spoilt for choice at the biggest wet market in Klang, but visitors to the place say the condition of the facilities and ...
Read more »
Olive Grove is the first-ever gated-and-guarded development in Bercham, Ipoh with 24-hour security. IPOH: YTL Land and Development Bhd announced that Phase 1 of Olive Grove is fully sold while ...
Read more »
Screenshots of a video showing a teenager pointing a knife at an elderly e-hailing driver. PETALING JAYA: Police have arrested a 13-year-old boy for holding an elderly e-hailing driver at ...
Read more »
Sprint Highway’s Semantan To KL Slip Road Fully Closed Until Dec 31 If you’re a regular user of the Sprint expressway, you’ll need to do some planning for your trips ...
Read more »
Genshin Impact Version 4.3 Leak Showcases Update to Domains New leaks reveals a quality-of-life update to Domains in Genshin Impact, making it easier for players to repeat and farm resources. ...
Read more »
CG Computers will host the Urban Republic (UR) Warehouse Clearance from 30 November to 3 December at the Atria Shopping Gallery in Petaling Jaya. During the event, visitor can get ...
Read more »
Photo for illustrative purposes only – 123RF KUALA LUMPUR – Hyperinflation has never happened in Malaysia and the government hopes it will never happen, according to the Economy Ministry. It ...
Read more »