<\/p>\n
Who is Taylor Swift\u2019s<\/a><\/span> heir apparent? Her 12th album, \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl,\u201d<\/a><\/span> offers an answer. It\u2019s Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n Her last album, \u201cThe Tortured Poets Department,\u201d<\/a><\/span> ended with the cautionary \u201cClara Bow,\u201d an allegory that seemed to suggest her tenure atop the cultural mainstream was inherited from stars of the past, like the namechecked Stevie Nicks<\/a><\/span> \u2014 and that a new generation of younger, elastic female pop performers could soon take her place. In 2025, there are many to choose from: Consider Chappell Roan\u2019s<\/a><\/span> full-throated theatrics, Olivia Rodrigo\u2019s<\/a><\/span> fiery punk-pop feminism, Sabrina Carpenter\u2019s<\/a><\/span> cheeky sexuality. In the knotty themes of Friday\u2019s \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl,\u201d best illustrated in the title track, Swift asserts that the baton hasn\u2019t been passed, but rather shared. Because she isn\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd all the headshots on the walls \/ Of the dance halls are of the b—— \/ Who wish I\u2019d hurry up and die,\u201d she sings with a wink, \u201cBut I\u2019m immortal now, baby dolls \/ I couldn\u2019t if I tried.\u201d Notably, if she has a chosen successor in someone else, it\u2019s the album\u2019s sole feature: Carpenter, who sings on the stomp-clap closer in her newly adopted twang.<\/a><\/span> The mournful glissando of lap steel \u2014 the album\u2019s most country moment \u2014 arrives only with Carpenter\u2019s introduction. The western genre is Swift\u2019s past and Carpenter\u2019s future.<\/p>\n If Swift is co-signing Carpenter, she\u2019s also learning from her. Carpenter has cornered the market on tight pop songs with pert, provocative messages; Swift does the same with the manspreading swagger of the George Michael-interpolating<\/a><\/span> \u201cFather Figure,\u201d which mentions a protege, and the funky \u201cWood.\u201d (A carefully veiled PG-13 lyric: \u201cHis love was the key \/ That opened my thighs,\u201d she sings. \u201cGirls, I don\u2019t need to catch the bouquet \/ To know a hard rock is on the way.\u201d) Interwoven are suggestive, sensual ad-libs … and a direct reference to fiance Travis Kelce\u2019s<\/a><\/span> podcast.<\/p>\n Across a brisk 12 tracks \u2014 Swift\u2019s tendency toward abundance doesn\u2019t manifest itself in a double album this time around, but instead in her endless vinyl variants<\/a><\/span> \u2014 \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl\u201d mostly delivers on its promise of up-tempo pop \u201cbangers,\u201d to borrow her own vernacular.<\/a><\/span> Fans need not wait up for the long-anticipated \u201cReputation (Taylor\u2019s Version),\u201d because \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl\u201d pulls from its essence. But this time, with a lot of affection, like a truer \u201cLover\u201d era.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Swift has long internalized criticisms and responded to them in her art, most directly in 2017\u2019s \u201cReputation.\u201d Here, she is once again concerned with her perception, articulated over booming, lush production on \u201cCANCELLED!\u201d or \u201cElizabeth Taylor.\u201d On the latter, she sings, \u201cHollywood hates me \/ You\u2019re only as hot as your last hit, baby.\u201d Except this time, her love acts as an anchor. \u201cI can\u2019t have fun if I can\u2019t have you,\u201d she flirts.<\/p>\n For \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl,\u201d Swift enlisted Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback, the hitmaking duo she collaborated with on 2012\u2019s \u201cRed,\u201d 2014\u2019s \u201c1989\u201d and, of course, \u201cReputation.\u201d<\/a><\/span> Notably absent is her frequent producing partner Jack Antonoff.<\/a><\/span> It\u2019s a wise decision: In years past, Swift, Shellback and Martin\u2019s pop experiments shifted not only her career trajectory but the genre itself. Before \u201cI Knew You Were Trouble,\u201d an EDM drop in the middle of a radio pop hit was unimaginable. After, the style would dominate for half the decade.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl\u201d isn\u2019t as seismic, but there are addictive and idiosyncratic Swiftisms here: acerbic wit and thick literary references in glassy pop hooks. Where a song like \u201cOpalite,\u201d if attempted by another other performer, would lose its weightlessness under its voluble aspirations, Swift manages to swoon. Stacked, opalescent harmonies and a vintage swing give the song, fittingly, an almost iridescent quality.<\/p>\n And there are bops, like the undeniable opener \u201cThe Fate of Ophelia\u201d with its 1980s-via-Robyn synth-pop and momentary \u201cSummertime Sadness\u201d vocal delivery.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a treasure trove of deliciously quotable lines, too, as expected. \u201cPlease God bring me a best friend who I think is hot,\u201d she manages to make effortless in the \u201cMidnights\u201d-esque<\/a><\/span> \u201cWi$h Li$t,\u201d a lovely song about the mundanity of romance and the suburban fantasy of \u201ca couple kids \u2026 a driveway with a basketball hoop.\u201d<\/p>\n Swift\u2019s dense vocabulary is on full display, often full of charm. But it is sometimes unwieldy, a common criticism of \u201cThe Tortured Poets Department,\u201d like when she overstuffs \u201cOur thoughtless ambition sparked the ignition on foolish decisions which led to misguided visions\u201d into \u201cFather Figure,\u201d momentarily overvaluing clever writing over clever cadence.<\/p>\n Or she is too modish. The colloquial \u201cEldest Daughter,\u201d for example, mentions \u201ctrolling,\u201d \u201cmemes\u201d and \u201ccomments,\u201d immediately dating itself. But sonically, it is a thoughtful acoustic ballad with emo movement, in which Swift contends with her \u201cterminal uniqueness\u201d and deep dedication to a loved one. It juxtaposes nicely with something like the casually cruel, pop-punk affected \u201cActually Romantic.\u201d It\u2019s hard not to hear some brief Hayley Williams<\/a><\/span> in the distorted speakerphone vocals in the song\u2019s coda or boygenius<\/a><\/span> in its harmonies: another example of Swift pulling from those she\u2019s influenced \u2014 and enlisted on her tours.<\/p>\n Swift has said \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl\u201d is meant to embody her \u201cEras Tour\u201d \u2014 a singular global phenomenon,<\/a><\/span> a canonical event in the history of pop performance that, in its over three-hour runtime, was a sensory explosion. On these 12 tracks, she\u2019s approximating glitz and glamour with humanity and humor. She spends no time waiting in the wings. So let the show begin.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl,\u201d Taylor Swift<\/p>\n Four out of five stars.<\/p>\n On repeat: \u201cThe Fate of Ophelia,\u201d \u201cOpalite\u201d<\/p>\n Skip it: \u201cHoney\u201d<\/p>\n For fans of: Witty one-liners, cocktails served in crystal glasses, Las Vegas, lechery<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nSuggestive bangers and a \u2018New Heights\u2019 namecheck<\/h2>\n
Welcome (back) to Sweden<\/h2>\n
The dictionary of a showgirl<\/h2>\n