Why Taylor Swift's new album disappoints

LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL, OR A GIRLBOSS?

- By JANUAR JUNIOR AGUJA

With Taylor Swift reuniting with photographers Mert Alaş and Marcus Piggott, and producers Max Martin and Shellback — who were involved in her sixth album, “Reputation” — many assumed her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” would be a bombastic pop record. It seemed like a welcome departure from the moody tone of her previous record, “The Tortured Poets Department” (TTPD).

That’s why it was surprising that what ended up on her 12th album was another mid-tempo record that didn’t match the glamorous aesthetic of the Mert and Marcus photo shoot, nor the euphoric melodies Swift, Martin, and Shellback usually produce.

I’ve been a Swiftie since her “Red” era in 2012, often defending her artistic choices when fans were divided. But I can’t defend this latest artistic choice. While I am a huge Swift fan, I am a pop listener first, and I value the little details that shape a record’s sound and aesthetic.

It’s especially frustrating when Swift herself has always had showgirl tendencies as a performer, evident throughout “The Eras Tour,” where she leaned into this concept while performing “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” in the TTPD segment, as well as in the music video for “Bejeweled.” I assumed she would double down on the “showgirl” concept for this album, so you can imagine my confusion when the album dropped last October 3.

- Where's the showgirl vibe? -

The first half somehow lived up to its assumed concept, especially in the first three tracks: the opener “The Fate of Ophelia,” a romantic ode to her fiancé Travis Kelce over a ’60s girl group jam; “Elizabeth Taylor,” in which Swift finds familiarity in the chaotic life of the Hollywood icon; and “Opalite,” which seems primed to be the album’s next single.