Taylor Swift is an accomplished artist who has released and re-recorded many albums whilst being on tour. With each album release, she is met with a wide range of opinions from both her fans and the general public. Swift’s newest album “The Tortured Poets Department” was released on April 18 after being announced at the Grammy Awards in February.
The album includes 16 tracks of emotionally dense and poetic songs. Fans suspected that the album would feature more sad songs as it is the first time that she released music following her breakup with Joe Alwyn. In addition to a collection of vulnerable tracks, the album contains strong storytelling and impressive lyrics. Swift explores engaging themes that give a very grounded but also extravagant feel which creates a very unique addition to her discography. “The Tortured Poets Department” has a very different vibe than other songs and albums in Swift’s discography while retaining her elaborative storytelling and using imagery to create a submersive listening experience.
Swift kept the trend that she set with the release of her 2023 album, Midnights by releasing additional songs in the album titled “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.” “The Anthology” contains the 16 tracks featured in The Tortured Poets Department along with an additional 15 songs, leading to an impressive total of 31 songs.
“Fortnight,” the first track of the album, was highly anticipated because of its high-profile feature with popular hip-hop/rap artist Post Malone. Prior to its release, AI deepfakes circulated on social media of the song with many trying to predict its vibe. The “Fortnight” music video features Swift and Post Malone.withSwift in an old-fashioned asylum type setting where she appears to be in isolation and getting brainwashed or memory swiped. Interspersing clips of Post Malone and Swift typing on typewriters across from each other and Swift in the asylum creates a slightly unsettling scene that seamlessly accompanies the lyrics and aspects of the song. The song has a catchy beat and lyrics and does a good job of setting the tone for the rest of the album with its synth-pop feel.
Overall the album has deservingly upbeat rhythms and is laced with shockingly real and poetic lyrics. The album not only divulges into heartbreak and love but also into Swift’s career. The song “Clara Bow” explores the desire to ‘make it’ and the judgments that come from outside pressures. The song compares the careers of Clara Bow, Stevie Nicks and Taylor Swift to illustrate the cycle of being a woman in the music industry. Swift does this by highlighting how young women rising in the music industry are intended to be the next “it girl” and “replace” those who came before them.
The song “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” has a very high-energy pop feeling but contains strong juxtaposing lyrics. The lyrics dive into the reality of being on tour during a public breakup and having to perform despite the hardships coming from dealing with this media frenzy.
“The Tortured Poets Department” feels like a continuation of Swift’s previous albums “Midnights,” “Folklore” and “Evermore.” Swift uses similar lyricism and storytelling styles throughout her most recent albums. This storytelling is extremely prevalent in tracks like “Peter,” “The Bolter,” “The Prophecy” and “I Look in People’s Windows.”
Not only is the album filled with heartbreaking lyrics and upbeat tunes, but also a plethora of love songs that encapsulate the feeling of a new relationship. Songs that reflect this theme include “The Alchemy,” “imgonnagetyouback” and “So High School.”
Despite not all having the same vibe, the songs in “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” are all tied together and have the same feel intertwined by the illustrative storytelling. These albums contain a lot of beautiful storytelling that is heartbreakingly poetic and engulfs an unbelievable amount of raw emotion. The album is an amazing composition of raw emotion portrayed through illustrative lyrics and supported by catchy beats and rhythm.
