Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Is An Expansive, If Not Long-Winded, Peek Into The Mind Of A Tormented Lyricist – Review

Taylor Swift is just a girl after all.

Beneath the facade of her status as one of the biggest personalities of our generation, the pop juggernaut uses her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, as her personal, intimate diary that muses her thoughts on fame, her fans, and (of course) her love life. At this point, it’s already established that some of the best records Swift releases come from a deep and vulnerable place within her –– whether it’s the agonizing, coming-of-age heartbreak of Red, the rebellious rage of Reputation, or the serenity of her poetic triumphs, Folklore and Evermore. 

With this album, it undeniably captures the same raw and unrestrained forms of confessionals as those mentioned, yet it doesn’t necessarily carry much of the aural landscape required for Swift’s lyricism to breathe. Nearly every minute of the majority of the album’s thirty-one tracks is filled with sparse sounds that do little to diversify what we’re listening to as the record goes on. The opener, “Fortnight“, features a guest appearance from Post Malone that evokes a moody, synth-pop ambiance akin to Midnight’s “Lavender Haze”, but it doesn’t really do much to allow the “Sunflower” hitmaker to showcase anything more than faint backing vocals that are dimly lit behind the production of the track.

Simply put, for a lead single, it does little to immerse the audience into this world that Swift half-heartedly welcomes us into.

The record’s eponymous track does a stronger job at picking up the steam, and features some of the pop star’s most candid songwriting to date –– and while amusing, it takes some jarring turns that are enough to elicit laugh-out-loud moments (such as that infamous Charlie Puth lyric) for anyone listening to these segments. It’s not the only part of the record that features this type of nature, with “Down Bad”, “So High School”, “thanK you aIMee”, and “I Hate It Here” serving as some perfect examples of this writing style. Some would describe it as petty and cringe-worthy, yet perhaps this type of poetry is what captures the phrase ‘’it’s so bad, it’s good”.

Throughout the rest of Swift’s ten albums, we’ve gotten used to hearing her lovelorn state of mind –– whether she’s getting over heartbreak, or expressing illicit desires that can only be expressed through poetry and lyricism. Yet for the first time, The Tortured Poets Department sees the pop star on the offensive, almost as if she’s pushing back against the imposed narratives placed upon her by both her fanbase and the industry.

The track “But Daddy I Love Him” seems to be the perfect example of this, serving as a counterargument to all the people who have chosen to meddle with Swift’s personal life and decisions (which have sabotaged her past relationships), despite her own agency. This form of moral policing has the celebrated hitmaker biting back and embracing her messiest and most chaotic tendencies, which stands out as a refreshing look into her mind. With this album more than any others, we’re witnessing Swift shameless in breaking down the fourth wall that stays between her and her fans. Because just when we thought we knew her, she’s proven us wrong yet again –– which only makes the celebrated hitmaker and her ingenuity more interesting than ever, as if she’s letting us in on the joke.

Still, that doesn’t mean that the record is only full of this sort of meta-commentary on Swift’s dalliances with her past relationships or the grudges she carries to her heart. Her beloved form of intimate storytelling is just as evident as ever, crafting narratives that are still just as devastating as ever. Almost as if we’re hearing her tell us these stories over a warm campfire, her soft, familiar, whisper-like vocals echo the relatable aspects of her peers, Phoebe Bridgers and Lana Del Rey in all of the best ways. “So Long, London“, “Guilty As Sin“, “The Black Dog“, and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” are some of the tracks that do an excellent job of taking us into the machinations of her wit –– proving that her songwriting still has the razor-sharp edge that it’s known for. 

But as mentioned earlier, the production doesn’t always adequately support these strengths. While the record sounds like a sonic combination of Midnights and Folklore blended together, the prominent use of 80s synth elements in the first volume of the album often feels overused –– resulting in some tracks from the first volume that fall flat to a fault. It’s cohesive nonetheless, but perhaps too cohesive to the point it lacks any form of variation or differentiation. 

With a total of thirty-one tracks, it’s difficult to embrace Swift’s continuous stream of thought when the end result feels quite monotonous throughout a record that spans over two hours. While it is admirable to witness Swift’s challenging everyone’s preconceived notions about her and her work, it’s become tiresome (and almost a burden) to witness a lack of creative innovation in terms of the expansive nature of the material. It may be that Swift is still stuck in the same creative space from the last four years, except what does it matter if you’re currently the biggest pop star in the world?

The Tortured Poets Department may not be her strongest album out there, but ultimately, it feels like a necessary and much-needed addition to her discography. Maybe it’s the cathartic aspects to it, since we’ve never seen Swift this vulnerable with her audience as she sheds the bulletproof persona we’ve come to know of her. Because as this record shows us –– isn’t Taylor Swift just a girl after all?

Listen to Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology in its entirety below: