8 Takeaways From Taylor Swift’s New Album The Tortured Poets Division

Talkin’ ’Bout My Repute

As on Repute, Swift addresses her personal public notion on Tortured Poets—comprehensible, given all of the media consideration she’s obtained up to now 12 months. On the late album barnstormer “Who’s Afraid of Little Previous Me?,” Swift sings about changing into callous within the face of hypothesis about her non-public life (“I used to be tame, I used to be mild/Til the circus life made me imply”). On “I Can Do It With a Damaged Coronary heart,” she contrasts the cheery demeanor she adopts for followers on the Eras Tour with the abject disappointment she feels post-breakup. In a second that remembers probably the most memorable scene of Katy Perry’s A part of Me documentary—by which Perry finds out her husband has filed for divorce, bawls her eyes out, then resets to a chilly smile as she rises to the stage—Swift cheerily exclaims “I’m depressing!/And no one even is aware of!”

A Temporary Inquiry Into Previous Relationships

The Tortured Poets Division is bound to offer near-endless fodder for followers and rubberneckers hoping to glean perception into Swift’s private life. Her lyrics are sometimes assumed to be about real-life boyfriends, and lots of the songs on this document appear to reference Healy (she refers to at least one associate as a “tattooed golden retriever” on the title monitor) and Alwyn, seemingly the topic of “So Lengthy, London.” “The Alchemy,” which is heavy on soccer references, nods to her relationship with Kelce, with Swift singing about being “on a successful streak” with a brand new love. And it’s not simply romantic relationships Swift addresses: The Anthology monitor “thanK you aIMee,” with its unsubtle title stylization, is broadly rumored to be about longtime Swift nemesis Kim Kardashian.

Caught Behind Bars

Allusions to prisons, asylums, and common sick psychological well being abound on Tortured Poets: On the album’s title monitor, she sings, “Everybody we all know understands/Why it’s meant to be/’Trigger we’re… loopy,” whereas on “However Daddy I Love Him,” she tells a disapproving father, “I do know he’s loopy, however he’s the one I would like.” “Recent Out the Slammer” casts a maudlin relationship as a jail—Swift’s new crush is the primary individual she’s calling when she will get out—whereas she tells the titular character on “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”: “You deserve jail, however you gained’t get time.” On “Who’s Afraid of Little Previous Me?” probably the most vicious monitor right here, she references gallows and likens her childhood to an “asylum,” and opening monitor “Fortnight” options the road, “I used to be purported to be despatched away/However they forgot to return and get me.” These references, a shade darker than the turns of phrase Swift is normally drawn to, appear to be in service of the album’s “tortured” vibe.

Taylor + the Machine

One of many highlights of Tortured Poets is “Florida!!!,” a collaboration with stalwart British pop musician Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine. Swift might have been dinged for relegating Lana Del Rey to backing vocalist standing on Midnights’ “Snow on the Seaside” (which Del Rey later mentioned was her personal selection), however there’s no approach the identical will occur with “Florida!!!”—Welch will get two full verses right here, and later trades strains with Swift. That includes a doomy aesthetic and large, window-rattling drums, it feels extra like a Welch monitor that Swift by accident wandered into. Which isn’t any knock: It’s the loudest, most theatrical second on an album that in any other case trades punchy showstoppers for quieter, extra meditative moods.