Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department review: The pop superstar pulls out all the stops on this mammoth undertaking, writes ADRIAN THRILLS
Two weeks
A melodic duet with Post Malone and a song that seems to be about a two-week affair. The slow, electronic rhythms set the early tone.
The department of tortured poets
Another blistering melody and lyrics that suggest Taylor, modestly, does not see himself at the top of the tortured poets: “You’re not Dylan Thomas, and I’m not Patti Smith.”
My boy only breaks his favorite toys
The dense electronic hum of this song, written solely by Swift, adds powerful notes. “Once I recover, he’ll miss me,” she vows.
Bad downstairs
“It all comes from teenage petulance,” Taylor sings, bitterly considering the fallout from an old relationship.
Goodbye, London
The first song co-written with Aaron Dessner of The National brings a change of pace, with a beautiful choir intro. “Goodbye, London, you’ll find someone,” Taylor sings.
This is her first new album since the end of her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn and although she doesn’t mention Alwyn by name, there will be plenty of speculation that songs like So Long, London are about him. Pictured together in 2019
But daddy, I love him
“I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want,” Swift sings, admitting with wry humor that she’s fallen for the bad guys. Produced, with real clarity, by Dessner.
Fresh from the Slammer
Finger-picked acoustic guitar adds folky notes reminiscent of lockdown albums Folklore and Evermore.
Florida!!!
An album highlight, this theatrical duet with London singer Florence Welch is an uplifting song about escape – from small-town life and bad romance.
Guilty as sin?
A story about unrequited love and a beautiful piece of 80s-style soft rock. There is even mention of The Downtown Lights, a 1989 single by the Scottish band The Blue Nile.
Who’s afraid of little old me?
Big drums, a dramatic arrangement and more dry humor in another song written solely by Swift. “You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me,” she snaps.
I can fix it (No, I really can)
A moody, stripped-down song worthy of Lana Del Rey, who also worked extensively with the song’s producer, Jack Antonoff.
The Alchemy: Sporting metaphors abound suggest a song inspired by the singer’s current boyfriend, American football star Travis Kelce. Pictured this week at Coachella
Loml
“You said I’m the love of your life,” Taylor sings on this warm, resonant piano ballad. In a clever twist, the ‘loml’ ends up being ‘the loss of my life’.
I can do it with a broken heart
Even more 80s influences on an electronic pop song in which Taylor vows to remain a trouper, despite any romantic conflicts.
The smallest man who ever lived
“You didn’t measure up to a man in any way,” a scornful Swift sings in a melodramatic ballad.
The alchemy
Sporty metaphors abound in a song inspired by the singer’s current boyfriend, American football star Travis Kelce. “When I land, call the amateurs and remove them from the team,” she sings.
Clara Bow
It’s tempting to think that Taylor sees something of herself in a closing song inspired by a 1920s American actress who lived her life in the goldfish bowl of Hollywood.