Album Review: The Life of a Showgirl - Taylor Swift
A celebration of love and hate, lust and bemusement, Taylor Swift's 12th album appears to be a snapshot of her life right now. A lot of it is familiar, but with a few surprises. She has broken ties with Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, whose fingerprints were all over her last seven albums, to reunite with Max Martin and Shellback, the producers behind some of the shiniest tracks in her canon: "22," "Blank Space," "Style." The Life of a Showgirl bears their slick pop hallmarks (the rubber-band bass on "Ruin the Friendship" and the cheerleader stomp of the title track, a Sabrina Carpenter duet) but treats 35-year-old Swift with grown-up respect.
There are shades of feline-slinky Stevie Nicks on "Elizabeth Taylor" and "The Fate of Ophelia"—a tribute to Swift's fiancé, Travis Kelce, for saving her from dying of heartache like the Hamlet victim. (Because nothing is accidental for Swift, note that actor Joe Alwyn, her ex, has upcoming film roles in both Hamlet and the related Hamnet.) Charming "Opalite," meanwhile, has groovy Christine McVie vibes and girl-group harmonies as Swift trills about her sky now resembling Kelce's birth stone. Announced days before her engagement, we all knew to expect a big love record, but The Life of a Showgirl is also just plain horny. "Wood" crackles and pops with Jackson Five energy and penis puns: "Forgive me, it sounds cocky/ He ah-matized me and openеd my eyes/ Redwood tree, it ain't hard to see/ His lovе was the key that opened my thighs."
Swift adopts an almost R&B falsetto for "Wi$h Li$t" as she fantasizes about having "a couple kids" and getting to "tell the world to leave us thе fuck alone." Of course, the irony is that the singer has been living more publicly than ever. She's shown us PDA at football games. She's told us on Kelce's podcast how happy she is to have bought back her master recordings. But her lyrics take a more sly approach in revealing her true thoughts. Deviously downbeat, "Father Figure"—which earns George Michael a credit—sure seems to be about the label head who sold those masters out from under her. "You made a deal with this devil, turns out my dick's bigger," Swift sings, casting herself as a mafioso with breathy sighs, not growling threats.
One of her funniest diss tracks, "Actually Romantic" evokes just the tiniest hint of Green Day as it puts a frenemy (Charli XCX, fans claim) in her place. "I heard you call me Boring Barbie when the coke's got you brave … And I know you think it comes off vicious/ But it's precious, adorable/ Like a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse," Swift sings before adding: "It's actually sweet, all the time you've spent on me … It's kind of making me wet." Less successful is "CANCELLED!," which feels like a theater kid's version of villainy, complete with exaggerated strings and trombone. But it's the rare mis-step on an album that feels carefree, with not a hint of Swift castigating herself for, hi, being her own problem.
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Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz 
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