The Tortured Poets Department is the 11th original studio album released by Taylor Swift. Announced at the Grammys Award Ceremony on February 3, 2024, fans have been anxiously waiting to discover the main genre of this album. Will it follow in the footsteps of her second most recent album Midnights with a mostly synth-pop sound? Will she revert to her 2020 folksy style that was incorporated into the albums folklore and evermore? Or will the fans receive something entirely different? All questions were answered on April 19th.
Knowing Swift, fans were not surprised when realizing that she had more in store for that fateful night, but the thing that no one could’ve called was that this extra little treat would be 15 more full-length songs creating a double album entitled The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. When I tell you I was thrown for a loop, I mean it.
As a long-time fan, I knew that I needed to be prepared to expect the unexpected. With that in mind, I proceeded with caution. That, however, was not enough preparation for me sobbing by the second song. Swift has always had a way with words but this was something else. It was beautifully crafted and even more beautifully executed.
Swift again joined forces with three-time Grammy Award winner for Producer of the Year and her long-time collaborator, Jack Antanoff, to bring this album to life. Because of this, I really did see some Midnights vibes leaking through. On the other hand, Swift also brought Aaron Dessner onto the project who was a main producer on folklore and evermore so the lowkey acoustic feeling was definitely apparent as well.
One complaint that I have heard is that with the way Swift often switched between genres, fans were expecting Tortured Poets to be something that they had never heard from her before. Though I also see some similarities between her past music and this new body of work, I think it’s important that we acknowledge how long Swift has been working in this industry. With the amount of time she has been writing and the crazy amounts of albums she has released, there is bound to be some overlap at some point. There are not an infinite amount of genres and I for one feel proud that Swift seems like she has finally found her “sound.” She seems comfortable with this style and I applaud her for trying as many things as she did.
All the songs on this album were incredible but because I am such a sucker for sad songs, some of my favorites included, “Peter,” “loml,” and “I Hate it Here,” but my absolute number-one is “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”
“Peter” made me feel a plethora of emotions. It was so nostalgic because of all the references to Peter Pan but also so heartbreaking because of the exploration Swift does of the “happily ever after” trope. It also felt like a callback to her previous lyric from the song “cardigan” in which Swift says “Peter losing Wendy” when detailing the end of a naive relationship. It was also written in ¾ time. In other words, it is a waltz, and the romantic connotation that comes with that word makes the whole song so much more bittersweet.
“Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” was, for lack of a better word, epic. It was a song that was constantly building on itself not just lyrically but also instrumentally. Don’t even get me started on the drums in the last chorus. The song elaborates on Swift’s feelings of being under near-constant scrutiny and how all of her actions are either viewed as dramatic or cruel. One lyric in particular in the song’s chorus that I found very powerful was “I was tame, I was gentle ‘til the circus life made me mean,” and later in the song she sings “you caged me and then you called me crazy.” Swift’s time in the music industry has not been all smooth sailing, and it’s so inspiring to see her still getting up and defending herself and her success no matter how many years she has spent as the industry’s punching bag.
Swift had two features on this album and as far as features go, they were both very solid. Post Malone was a contributor on the opening track “Fortnight” which though Malone’s style isn’t typically my cup of tea, I actually really enjoyed this song and thought it was an amazing way to open the record. The eighth track, “Florida!!!” featured the rock band Florence + The Machine. This song shocked me (I think I actually got jumpscared by the chorus) but I could definitely see myself rocking out to this track on a summer road trip, windows down.
Swift has yet again delivered an album that, in my opinion, deserves tens across the board. It’s for sure one of her best works and I can’t wait to see whether or not any of these top-tier songs gets added to the Eras Tour setlist. I hope Swift continues to surprise me and I know that whatever she does next will be equally as enjoyable if not more.