Taylor Swift ascends to new heights with her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. Across the double album, her storytelling prowess has never been sharper, weaving together deeply resonating lyrics with the maturity of a seasoned artist. We hereby conduct this post-mortem on this album and have determined that Taylor Swift has cemented herself as a once-in-a-generation songwriter who seemingly has no creative rut in sight.
Written in secret during the past two years, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is a collection of stories compiled by Swift, drawn from tales of fiction as well as her own life. Over the course of 31 songs and clocking in at two hours and two minutes, the album acts as a window into a time in Swift’s life when she experienced loss and loneliness while at some of the highest peaks of her popularity, particularly in the song “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” Lovers of Taylor’s past and present drift in and out of the narrative of this album with raw emotion with songs like “So Long, London,” “loml,” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” She takes a jab at her fans in “But Daddy I Love Him” for their entitlement towards her love life, especially if they don’t approve of Taylor’s beau. Taylor demonstrates profound reflection and her place in pop culture with songs such as “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” “thanK you aIMee,” and “Clara Bow.”
Taylor Swift reteams with long-time collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner as producers and co-writers of the double album. From a musical standpoint, Antonoff brings a continuity in sound from the Midnights era into Tortured Poets. The 80s sound that ushered in Swift’s pop renaissance is a familiar narcotic that eases listeners into this era with songs like “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)” and the title track. Meanwhile, Dessner continues to expand the lyricism that started in the folklore era and has since evolved. While certain halves of the double album sound heavily influenced by a singular producer, it’s Taylor who brings harmony as the author of The Tortured Poets Department.
Let me take this opportunity to say this about one of our favorite sad dads — the collaboration between Swift and Dessner has proven to be an undisputed match in popular music. Together, they have pushed each other into a creative renaissance of songwriting, changing the rules of what it means to make music for the masses that maintains a soul. What began in folklore has blossomed into what could best described as songwriting soulmates. If you want further proof of their friendship, “Robin” is about Dessner’s son. The honorable mention of alliances from Tortured Poets is Swift’s collaboration with Florence Welch for the anthem “Florida!!! Feat. Florence + The Machine.” It’s the type of song you want to roll down your windows in the car and scream while flying down the highway.
The jury is out on where Tortured Poets will land in the artist’s celebrated discography. There will be some who dismiss the album for not giving enough upbeat pop songs or even a romantic ballad. Others will argue there’s not enough variety in sound and scope. As she continues to challenge herself and writes like she’s running out of time, Swift challenges her fans to join her on this new soundtrack. The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, like 1989 and folklore before it, shows incredible confidence from Swift, an artist at the top of her game, to invite her fans on a journey of poetic prose and thoughtful storytelling.
Full disclosure: I believed that Taylor Swift would never return to the stylings of albums like folklore and evermore. With the success of Midnights and the Eras Tour in full swing, I believed Taylor got the pop fever again and never looked back. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with that; she successfully made the switch to a full-blown pop star and has since become one of the most famous artists on the planet. However, with regards to closing the book on folklore and evermore, not only was I wrong, but I see now that folklore marked a shift in Swift that she was hungry for more. If I had paid more attention, it would’ve been obvious how The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology was an inevitability.
The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology could be the albatross of Taylor Swift’s current trajectory. It could easily be a purge of songs that she needed to get out of her brain and then put this type of era back on the bookshelf. Wherever Swift goes from here musically, or even with her first feature film, it’s clear that I should never bet against Taylor Swift and her creative mind. Eleven albums in, this generation’s it girl (like Clara Bow and Stevie Nicks) continues to defy the boxes we try to put on her as a pop artist. Her star continues to shine bright, dazzling.
What are your favorite tracks off The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology? Let us know in the comments below.