The Life of a Showgirl is potentially the most important album of Taylor Swift’s career, with all eyes on her to levels even she hasn’t experienced before.
Hot off one of the biggest tours ever and an engagement, the statement she’s making with in this release is calculated and something she has been ‘wanting to make for a long time’.
So no pressure then?
Ultimately, Taylor lives up to the hype and does what she does best: release an addictively catchy pop album with deep cut lyrics and irresistible 80s-inspired beats.
While I loved Tortured Poets Department — controversial, I know — The Life of a Showgirl feels like a return to form, blending her best elements from Reputation,1989, and Midnights.
It’s obvious why she’s chosen The Fate of Ophelia as the opening track and lead single. It’s an instant hit, tapping into her romance with Travis Kelce as she describes someone breaking down her walls and ‘saving her heart’.
Romance is a topic many will have expected from the star, but this album refuses to give us the dreamy, wide-eyed narrator that the masses might want.
The Life of a Showgirl takes us through Taylor’s complicated experience with fame and scrutiny as it clashes with the real person behind the brand.
Of course, the singer’s skill has always been in her storytelling, and the lyrics are packed with personal references, including what seems to be a Charli XCX diss track.
In Actually Romantic, Taylor unleashes her venom as she sings about someone high-fiving her exes ‘when the coke’s got you brave’ and a ‘tiny chihuahua barking’ at her.
Unfortunately for whoever the song is about, it’s incredibly catchy with an almost 00s pop punk guitar riff throughout the track — it reminds me of Gives You Hell by All American Rejects, a clever but less than subtle nod.
The decision to work with Max Martin and Shellback for The Life of a Showgirl has thoroughly paid off, giving me the heavy guitar and drums I’ve been sorely missing in Taylor’s music.
Personally, the album’s crown jewel is Father Figure, as she plays around with seductive vocals, aided by the interpolation of George Michael’s track of the same name.
As with Actually Romantic, Taylor plays with the subconscious connection we have to that music as she narrates seducing someone to sign a deal with the devil.
The song satirises this mobster boss figure she’s made out to be while lamenting that she, too, was once in the victim’s position.
This theme of frustration runs through the album, directed at the public perception of her and how she is painted as a villain, regardless of what she does.
However, why gossip-hungry fans might devour these lyrics for a sprinkling of insight, there’s so much more to this album than that.
Ruin The Friendship is a real showstopper, providing a lyrical rug-pull moment halfway through the album as it switches from young love and stolen glances to a very real loss.
In the bridge, she sings: ‘Abigail called me with the bad news/Goodbye, and we’ll never know why’.
Longtime fans will know that Abigail is Taylor’s school best friend, cementing that this song is almost certainly referring to Jeff Lang, another school friend who died.
It’s a song that is designed to be jarring and stopped me in my tracks on first listen. An emotional island in a sea of stylish chart toppers.
The second half of the album mirrors the first, with Wood providing another dedication to Travis whose ‘love was the key that opened [her] thighs’.
Cheeky, romantic, and a little sexier than we’ve seen Taylor before, this is the personal side of her breaking out of the showgirl persona.
My only complaint is that the songs all start to sound similar, a criticism often hurled at her music, but is generally untrue of her discography as a whole.
In one way, having a super distinct sound for each album is great, but I wish she had leaned into that showgirl aesthetic in the music and given us some jazz-inspired numbers.
That being said, every single song has the potential to be someone’s favourite as there are very few skips with some forays into different genres, even if they are slight.
Of course, Sabrina Carpenter’s feature on the title track is an added treat for fans and the pair work together so well from a vocal perspective.
The Life of a Showgirl has a stomp-clap, country twang to it and feels like it’s meant to be sung as credits roll.
It’s the perfect end to this journey through fame, with an emotional nod to fans to close the show.
While she’s not breaking the wheel, the album is emotional, honest, witty, brutal, and downright fun. This is exactly what I wanted from the queen of pop.