Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” released a couple of weeks ago. My first thought was, ‘Already? Didn’t the last one just come out?’ closely followed by, ‘Oh no, I’m never going to hear the end of it from my friends who are Swifties.’ Sure, I will acknowledge that I am a fan; I did attend the Era’s Tour stop in New Jersey after all. That being said, ‘Swiftie’ is a term that does not go beside my name, and I will do anything to fight allegations of such. Since the album drop I have done my best to stay away from the music to give this review my honest first impression. I have to say I am genuinely looking forward to finally listening through the list, given the quite mixed reviews I’ve heard. Catch you on the other side…

The Fate of Ophelia

This was actually a nicely catchy song overall. I do like the chorus, though I think I already heard one of the references to Travis Kelce. Aside from that, I can appreciate her hinting at some of the other songs on the album in there, good touch.

Elizabeth Taylor

Okay, a full song about Kelce already, is this going to be a trend? I think musically it’s a fine song, just definitely quite the turnaround genre-wise from the last track. It’s giving… pick me?

Opalite

This song absolutely has a vibe, once again I am really digging the chorus. I’ve heard people say her best known albums are all based on past relationships, and now that she is engaged they wonder how she is going to keep successfully writing. I hear her subtly acknowledging that in the first verse, though I may be mistaken.

Father Figure

I did have to look up some context for this one, I’ll admit I thought it was about Travis again. I like this track a lot more with the context, the music is really nice again, the lyrics are overall good. Your what is bigger?!

Eldest Daughter

That was the strangest pronunciation of ‘trolling’ that I have ever heard, but I certainly won’t quibble over that compared to the rest of this song. I just don’t like it, it’s really giving pick me again. Really the only thing I like is the almost floaty ending, that is nice on the ears.

Ruin The Friendship

As a bass player, holy groove. I legitimately like this song, the story told in this track is so sad, and the lyrics convey it so well in my opinion with the instrumentals contrasting the sentiment really nicely.

Actually Romantic

I did actually see a video on Instagram commenting on the drama between Taylor and Billie Eilish, and through that I kind of got the gist of the shade thrown in this song. As far as diss tracks go this is not particularly the strongest in my opinion, but the indie-rock vibe is a welcome and unique genre choice for Swift.

Wi$h Li$t

I did not have high hopes for a Taylor Swift song with two dollar signs in the title, but I think this song is good enough to offset that tackiness. Her and Kelce are two such public figures that I am really curious what their lives will be like once they are married. Yet again a nice genre switchup.

Wood

I have heard so many people clown on this song since it came out, and I will say the lyrics certainly lived up to the… hype? Come on now, Taylor, you really don’t need to write a whole song about Travis’ “magic wand” and dancing in the dark, we get it. Does the backing track make up for these offenses? Yes, yes it does.

CANCELLED!

This just in, Taylor Swift is dark and mysterious! I thought that was the bit from the last album, this song did not need to make it on this album. I guess I can’t like every song, on to the next.

Honey

Don’t ask me why I know this, but why is the same summertime spritz she mentions in this song the color name of the Target Exclusive vinyl? I think the lyrics and message conveyed in this song are well done, overall it’s just a very Taylor Swift kind of song.

The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)

This is a pretty good namesake song for the album, though the style sort of reminds me of a song from a musical, which now that I think about it is pretty fitting. Is it bad to say I like Sabrina’s verse on this track the most? I don’t know what else to say, it’s a good song.

I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I think it was overall a lot better than I was expecting, even with its weak points. I still think the turnaround between these last two albums was rather quick, and I’ve heard speculation that it is because Swift wants her lucky album number thirteen to come out at a specific time or something like that. I don’t know all the details, because I reiterate, I am not a Swiftie. I suppose we will just have to wait and see.