Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Album Review

Taylor Swift dropped her eleventh studio album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ and it’s being hailed as a literary masterpiece.

Ever since she announced the album during her performance at the Grammys in February, Swift has been teasing her latest work with brooding snippets of lyrics and monochrome visuals. The artwork perfectly complements the album’s mood and may even be a subtle reference to her song ‘Daylight’ from the 2019 album ‘Lover,’ where she sang about the complexities of love.

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In ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ Swift delves into the grey areas of heartbreak and the pressures of fame like never before. Her writing remains as poetic and prolific as ever, with both the lyrics and soundscape of the album reminiscent of her acclaimed pandemic projects, ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore,’ as well as her more recent album, ‘Midnights,’ released in 2022.

Just like on those albums, Swift’s storytelling is so vivid that listeners will find it hard to separate fact from fiction as she lays bare accounts of doomed romances over ambient synths.

Fans and music enthusiasts will be dissecting the album for clues about her high-profile relationships. Swifties, her devoted fan base, have already flooded social media with theories, speculating which lyrics are inspired by exes like Joe Alwyn or Matty Healy and which ones reference her current partner, Travis Kelce.

Swift has always had a knack (or perhaps a curse) for feeling deeply, and she possesses the talent and bravery to express those emotions like few others. In ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ she explores melancholy, rage, guilt, indifference, despair and hope. The standout tracks seem to draw inspiration from her own larger-than-life experiences yet remain highly relatable.

In ‘But Daddy I Love Him,’ Swift lashes out at overzealous fans who claim to have her best interests at heart but actually invade her privacy. In ‘Guilty as Sin?’ she sings about yearning for someone while feeling trapped. In ‘Fresh Out the Slammer,’ she revisits something familiar after a failed relationship.

Even on the most upbeat track, ‘I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,’ Swift maintains a facade of happiness despite inner turmoil, singing about putting on a brave face despite heartache.

With her record-breaking Eras Tour and historic Grammy wins Swift is at the peak of her career. But on ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ she once again shows why she’s the brightest star in the industry.