Mia Arias:

Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl,” released earlier this month, was a huge disappointment for many of Swift’s fans and casual listeners. The album shifts from classic, nostalgic Taylor to very uncomfortable and out-of-touch themes — sometimes within the same song. The album’s production is incredible, and it pulls together some decent storytelling, but despite this, Showgirl feels lacking and uneven, much like a performance gone on too long.

The album opens with “The Fate of Ophelia,” an upbeat and catchy introductory song that feels incredibly dreamy. Still, the narrative falters under an uncomfortable dependency trope for me. The idea of being saved by a man seems misaligned for an artist long celebrated for her independence.

“Elizabeth Taylor” has a lively and retro-esque tone with a catchy rhythm and that pop-sparkle. However, it feels heavily manufactured at some points. This song feels fun, but not memorable. For me, it was a callback to her 2012 sound, but it only worked as a reminder of how much she has changed.

Things dip with “Opalite.” The track feels unfinished, and although the beat is still there, the lyrics are repetitive and lazy. For somebody who can write “Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life” (Tolerate It, 2020), this half-baked lyricism should not be the new standard. 

“Father Figure” doesn’t recover the momentum. The song’s way of positioning a romantic partner as a “father figure” feels uncomfortable, particularly when I take into account Swift’s cultural influence. This song also has the weakest production, as most of it sounds the same no matter where you skip. The interpolation of George Michael’s classic feels more like a gimmick than a homage.

Then everything takes a nose dive with “Eldest Daughter,” the signature “sad track” of the album, but for myself, it was the breaking one. The track is shamelessly self-pitying in the kind of manner that can only come from extreme isolation. What could’ve been an insightful reflection on the pressure of fame instead reads as tone-deaf and uncaring. The lyric “I have been afflicted by a terminal uniqueness” reflects these feelings. For someone with immense privilege, the woe-me act borders on performative.

“Ruin the Friendship” and “Actually Romantic” offer asylum after the previous track. The first, while lyrically simple, has that nostalgic Taylor feeling — though hearing a 35-year-old sing about high school heartbreak feels awkward. The second, “Actually Romantic,” is an all-around good song. The humor and pacing work well, and it’s one of the very few songs on Showgirl that doesn’t take itself so seriously.

“Wish List” is another fifty-fifty song. It is catchy, but some of the lyrics feel class-coded. Though it doesn’t seem to have malicious intent, it feels like another nudge to Swift’s blind spots.

Then there’s the most controversial out of the batch: “Wood.” I will give it one thing: the production shines again with this track. However, the lyrical shift toward overt sexuality feels very forced. There are better ways to include sexual innuendos in songs, but this felt like a collection of clumsy metaphors. This messiness can be seen in lines like “His love was the key that opened my thighs.”

“CANCELLED!” really broke my heart. The beat is infectious, but the lyrics are kill-on-arrival. With lines like “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?” it is hard not to flinch. The song’s attempt at irony falls flat, landing in humiliation ritual territory.

Thankfully, “Honey” and the title track “The Life of a Showgirl” end the album on a high note. The songs are not spectacular, but by this point, I could settle for anything. Sabrina Carpenter’s feature felt very natural, though it almost overshadows Swift on her own song.

In the end, “The Life of a Showgirl” fell through for me. The storytelling felt distant and detached from the sincerity that often made Swift’s music universal. Still, maybe there’s a silver lining, I just haven’t caught onto it just yet.

2.4/10

Savaya Sebayang:

To those who clicked on this article, I hope you’re not anticipating a full, deep dive with analytical views where I count every decibel and digest every lyric in this album. I’m just a regular music enthusiast with opinions and not a music professor with 20 years of experience. I’m not even 20 yet. So, take everything I write with a grain of salt.

I believe Taylor Swift is an amazing and talented artist (her 14 Grammys at home being proof of her accomplishments). 

So, Swifties… please don’t come for me.  

Now, onto the album.

It’s safe to say that almost 300 million people marked Oct. 3 on their calendar in anticipation of Taylor Swift’s latest album release. When “The Life of a Showgirl” dropped, it racked up an incredible 249.9 million streams on Spotify globally in just the first 24 hours. It’s been the talk of the media ever since.

This time, she teamed back up with Max Martin and Shellback, record producers who worked with her in previous albums “Red” and “1989.” Serving us with 12 tracks, the album is an ode to her experiences of being a performer and everything she feels behind the curtains, with influences from her successful Eras Tour, with 149 shows across 51 cities, and her recent engagement to NFL star Travis Kelce. 

Production-wise, the album delivers exactly what you’d expect from one of today’s top female pop artists. Even though most of the songs are pop, some are influenced by the retro ages with a lot of synth and 70s disco elements. Take track 9, “Wood,” my personal favorite song from the album. Its instrumentals remind me of Jackson 5’s funkier songs and even “Le Freak” by CHIC, all having that looping electric guitar groove constantly playing. 

However, I think that’s the only praise I can say. 

To be honest, the whole album was underwhelming. The tracks felt very repetitive, with little difference in style between each song. Compared to when she took a big risk and turned dark, but was still able to give a variety of genres with her “Reputation” album in 2017, this album felt like she was playing it safe. But, even compared to her usual pop albums like “Lover” and “1989,” “The Life of a Showgirl” gets a lower ranking from me. 

To add on, Taylor has always been recognized as a “poet” for her penmanship in writing lyrics for her songs. She can sometimes come up with something so witty that many fans and listeners pause to rewind. I believe she’s the best at writing lyrics that compare how she feels with similes. Examples of my personal favorites are:

• “And you call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of being honest” from “All Too Well” (10 Minutes Version).
• “I’m a mirrorball / I can change everything about me to fit in” from “mirrorball.”

And every single line in “Cardigan” — a song that can turn my happiest days into a moment of break-up. 

This time, her lyrics didn’t give the usual impact, with most of them sounding cringey. It feels like she just wanted them to rhyme. I couldn’t understand what she was trying to say: 

“Her name was Kitty / Made her money being pretty and witty / They gave her the keys to this city / Then they said she didn’t do it legitly…” from “Life of a Showgirl ft. Sabrina Carpenter.”

This one just sounds like a Millennial trying to fit in with Gen Z:

“Did you girlboss too close to the sun / Did they catch you having far too much fun?” from “CANCELLED!” 

Lastly, none of the songs conveyed any emotion, or at least didn’t evoke a feeling in me. Her delivery felt flat, sounding like she read it off a teleprompter in a very monotone way. In contrast, her older songs captured her emotions and threw it at our faces, resonating and making us feel the same. Her yearning in “Back to December,” her aggression in “Ready for It,” to even her excitement in “ME!” 

To sum it all up, this album just wasn’t her best. But Taylor’s discography is just so stacked that this one can be swept under the covers. Realistically speaking, every artist’s new album doesn’t have to be a career-defining moment or a change in artistic identity. She’s still our generation’s most successful and undeniable showgirl. 

Nice try, Taylor, but I’ll stick with my “Five Seconds Flat” by Lizzy McAlpine album for now.

6/10