UC Davis students express ambivalence toward Taylor Swift’s latest album
BY JULIE HUANG – arts@theaggie.org
The release of a new Taylor Swift album has become synonymous with a flurry of discussion, ranging from speculation on the inspiration for each track, connections to Swift’s personal life and passionate reactions from fans and critics alike. Swift’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” has not escaped this fate, quickly becoming one of her most polarizing albums amongst both critics and the general public.
Swift herself has even acknowledged the mixed reception that her newest album has received in the days since its release.
“I welcome the chaos,” Swift said on Apple Music’s “The Zane Lowe Show.” “I’m not the art police. It’s like everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want. And what our goal is as entertainers is to be a mirror.”
UC Davis students have listened and formed their own opinions on “The Life of a Showgirl” and its place within not only Taylor’s discography, but their hearts and minds.
Ben Carrillo, a third-year political science major, has been a fan of Taylor Swift since childhood.
“I was personally really excited for ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ to drop,” Carrillo said. “This seemed like a return to form for her after she released what was, in my opinion, her weakest album.”
On “The Zane Lowe Show,” Swift described her previous album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” as “serious, sensitive, introspective, earnest and stoic.” In comparison, she characterized “The Life of a Showgirl” as “mischievous, fun, scandalous, sexy, flirty and hilarious.”
For some long-time fans, however, the new album did not deliver.
Malaika Dewar, a third-year communication and English major, suggested that her personal listening experience was characterized by a sense of mediocrity.
“My first impression was that it sounds bad in a way that is basically uninteresting,” Dewar said. “She makes the same song over and over again.”
Rather than highlighting the lively and luminous qualities associated with showgirls, Dewar also said that the album felt derivative compared to Swift’s previous works, and forgettable even within her own discography. Carillo echoed this notion.
“I felt like it was not her best foot forward and it almost felt like a cash grab in many ways, which is something I never thought I’d say about a Taylor Swift album,” Carrillo said.
Swift’s marketing strategies of releasing multiple CD and vinyl variants of the same album have not gone unnoticed. In 2024, she released 36 album variants of “The Tortured Poets Department.” Though it has contributed to Swift’s impressive sales, critics have characterized this practice as disingenuous and exploitative of her fan-base.
Anika Konkati, a third-year English major, also said that the album failed to live up to her expectations of what a flashy showgirl-themed project should feel or sound like.
“The first half of the album is definitely more listenable than the second half, but even then, it doesn’t quite build or go anywhere,” Konkati said. “There’s far stronger stuff on her previous albums.”
Elsewhere on the album, Konkati found Swift’s lyrical efforts lacking when held up against previous works.
“‘Eldest Daughter’ is a really, really weak Taylor ballad,” Konkati said. “It feels immature, and I think Taylor’s fans have come to expect a little more from her.”
Specifically, the line “I’m not a bad bitch, and this isn’t savage,” which is featured in the song’s bridge, has become controversial for its apparent incongruence with the rest of the song’s lyrics, along with well-established audience expectations of what a track five from Swift might sound like.
Track fives within Swift’s discography are expected to be especially vulnerable and reflective songs — “All Too Well,” “Tolerate It” and “My Tears Ricochet” are just three of 12 emotional ballads. Swift has previously said that “picking a track five is sort of a pressurized decision.”
“This [album] feels like a step down from anything she’s ever written,” Carrillo said. “It’s frustrating as a long-time fan because this is nowhere near the quality of her other works.”
Despite criticism, fans were luckily still able to find a couple of stand-outs within the album.
“I find myself returning to ‘The Fate of Ophelia,’ which is the only one that feels like a Taylor Swift song,” Carrillo said. “It has a catchy hook, a pretty good chorus and is more interesting in terms of lyricism and writing quality.”
Overall, Carrillo and Kontaki felt the album’s lyricism came off overblown and out of touch, not just with listener expectations, but also the clear-eyed perspective that was often present in Swift’s previous works
“The lyricism feels a little bit like a parody of herself,” Konkati said. “It comes across like a Taylor Swift hater decided to write a Taylor Swift album.”
For some, “The Life of a Showgirl” was simply a step in the wrong direction, which does not cancel out the overall merits of Swift’s discography.
“She’s been on a bit of a downward trend,” Konkati said. “I’ve never been a super fan, but I still know that she’s put out some pretty interesting stuff.”
Regardless of her latest album’s public reception, Swift undeniably remains at the very top of the music industry. Despite criticism, her new album broke Swift’s own Spotify single-day streaming record set by her previous album, and is “poised to break the longstanding record for largest sales week for an album in the modern era,” according to NBC News.
It seems she has the ability to remain a thriving force in the music industry until she herself is tired of it, and there are a myriad of paths forward for her. Which one can win her critics back over?
“Her next project might be the most important one in her discography, because it will determine where she is going from now on,” Carrillo said.
Written by: Julie Huang — arts@theaggie.org
