Taylor Swift is once again dominating the music scene with the release of her eleventh studio album “The Tortured Poets Department” along with an extended edition with 15 extra songs titled “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology”.
Swift announced the album at the 2024 Grammy awards in January and the excitement has been growing since. Much to the surprise of Swift’s fans and the public, the album ended up being a total of 31 songs, timing out at 2 hours and 2 minutes.
The first track ‘Fortnight (Feat. Post Malone)’ uses a familiar synth sound that was heavily used in Swift’s albums ‘Midnights’ and ‘1989 Taylors Version’. While this sound is not necessarily anything special musically, it showcases Jack Antanoff’s strong suits as a producer. Swift and Malone’s voices work together and contrast well with each other to create a very melodic opening song. While this song is not the strongest opening track for a Taylor Swift album, it’s a very strong track on its own.
Swift continues to use the synth-pop sound throughout the album and works very well, especially on tracks such as track five, ‘So Long, London’. She uses a fast-paced synth beat in the background while she describes the end of a relationship. Swift’s lyricism truly shines through in this track and paints a vivid picture of a slow and painful end to something very important. This song is definitely a stand out track on the album and combines the best of both production and songwriting.
The eighth track on this album features Florence+The Machine which was a highly anticipated collaboration. The track is titled “Florida!!!!!!” and uses much of Florence + The Machine’s traditional production features such as powerful drums, tambourine, and other large production items. The song is exciting and a great use of the featured artist, making it one of the stronger tracks on the standard album.
Track ten, titled ‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me’ is a song filled with a lot of rage about the way Swift was raised and treated in the music industry. This track also features strong instrumentals and production, giving it an almost cinematic feel. It has quickly become a fan favorite, with the line ‘You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me.’ becoming a trend on different social media platforms. This is definitely one of the best and strongest tracks on the record and highlights both Swift’s vocals and writing in the best way.
Finally, the closing track on the album, track sixteen, titled ‘Clara Bow’. This song is definitely one of the more underrated tracks on the album, but still a very good song. It talks about the industry and fame for many female stars, beginning with Clara Bow. The song then talks about Stevie Nicks being compared to her and referencing later that Swift herself is compared to Nicks in their younger years. It talks about the cycle of fame and how female stars are often huge until they are cast aside for a ‘new thing’. It highlights the story telling aspect of Swift’s writing and is a great way to close the album.
