What We Know About The Life of a Showgirl
As of now, not much is officially confirmed about the Grammy-winning superstar’s twelfth studio album, but in true Taylor Swift fashion, the announcement was riddled with easter eggs and numerology clues. It all began on Monday, August 11th, when Swift’s official social media team @TaylorNation, teased the next era by tweeting twelve stills from the Eras Tour. One of these images featured Swift with her former opener and pop protégé, Sabrina Carpenter.
Later that night, Swift’s website changed its homepage to a countdown for August 12th at 12:12 AM. At that time, a pre-order link to her new album dropped, along with the unveiling of its title. Furthermore, an official preview for an August 13th podcast appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights circulated on social media. Although her boyfriend’s sports podcast isn’t exactly a typical environment for the dramatic reveal of a pop musical era, Kelce’s background in the video heavily features Swiftian imagery. If you look closely, behind Kelce and Swift are several signs with the initials T.S. on them along with a jar of friendship bracelets, a nod to her beloved Swifties.
While the official album art was blurred out in the preview of Swift’s podcast appearance, we do have a strong sense of what the general aesthetic is. The Eras Tour imagery that @TaylorNation tweeted out on Monday mostly included Swift in orange-colored outfits, while the countdown on her website featured an orange background. She’s even wearing orange lipstick on Kelce’s podcast, which is a notable departure from her trademark red lip. This will mark a significant aesthetic shift from Swift’s last several albums, which were either dark, grey, or nature-themed. It’s a welcome change that might suggest a brighter and uplifting sound to go along with it.
As for the music itself, Swift released a playlist entitled And baby, that’s show business for you, which interestingly only includes previous songs of hers co-produced by Max Martin and Shellback. We can therefore suspect that the vast majority of the album, if not all of it, will be produced by the Swedish producing duo, who haven’t collaborated with Swift on a new record since 2017.
Does this mean that Swift will not be working with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff on The Life of a Showgirl? Fans seem to think so. They also believe that there will be a collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter on one track, given her appearance in one of the photos published by @TaylorNation. We still do not know the official release date of The Life of a Showgirl. That being said, we do know that pre-ordered vinyls are scheduled to be shipped around October 12th.
My Hopes for The Life of a Showgirl
Swift’s departure from working with Jack Antonoff is a good sign that she’s listening to constructive criticism. It’s not that Antonoff hasn’t produced great work with Swift, but their sound together has become predictable from the pulsing synths to the breathy vocals. After Midnights and Tortured Poets, it does seem like the two have surpassed the limit on what they can create together for now. A break is necessary, and it’s high time they take it for the sake of their artistry.
While I would have preferred if Swift collaborated with someone entirely new—Jim-E-Stack, who produced Lorde’s latest record, would have been an inspired choice—working with Max Martin does indicate a productive sonic shift. The last two albums were mostly morose and dreary in both sound and subject matter. Martin helped Swift discover the pop sound for which she is best known, from “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” to “Shake it Off.” The vast majority of their compositions together are uptempo bangers, so here’s hoping for some much-needed positivity in this next era.
Another hope of mine, which seems less likely at this point, is for Swift to retire from releasing a million vinyl variants and easter eggs throughout the promotional life of this album cycle. She already has enough cultural prominence to generate enthusiasm and attention. On top of that, Swift has received considerable backlash in the past for releasing vinyl variants to keep other female pop stars from reaching number one on the Billboard charts. While competition is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s time to listen to the “petty” accusations and embrace sharing the spotlight.
Most importantly, my greatest dream for this album is that it is concise and well-edited. When Midnights was first released, it was supposed to be 13 tracks. Then, it became a double-album. When Tortured Poets was released, it was supposed to be 16 tracks. Then, she surprise-dropped 15 more. Swift may be one of the greatest mainstream songwriters of her generation, but she is not the greatest editor of her own work. There is a reason why people say brevity is the soul of wit. If Swift wants to improve upon the critiques she has received from her last two eras, she would take the time to assess which tracks are essential in making The Life of a Showgirl a cohesive and complete record.
I am always simultaneously intrigued and concerned when artists I admire announce their next projects, and clearly, this album is no exception. I want The Life of a Showgirl to be a worthy addition to Swift’s accomplished catalogue, but that will only work if she incorporates at least a few elements of the harsh criticism she has received over the past few years. It is the only way for great artists to evolve into even greater ones. As Swift herself sings on “The 1,” “if you never bl*ed, you’re never gonna grow.”
via @SwiftNYC