Review: 'The Life of a Showgirl' Lacks Substance
Taylor Swift's 12th studio album promises a glimpse behind the glitter, but does not deliver.
The album's promotional imagery featured bodies dripping with rhinestones and burgundy stage curtains fading into shadow.
Written and produced during Swift's The Eras Tour by Swift, Max Martin, and Shellback, this record is about performance, leaning into spectacle and teasing a confession behind its glittering facade that is never quite revealed.
Over 12 tracks, Swift slips between contradictory personas, leaving the listener uncertain as to which, if any, are real.
The opener, The Fate of Ophelia, serves as a microcosm for the entire album: part dazzling and part awkward — and wholly inconsistent.
The sparkling synth pop track rewrites the story of Shakespeare's doomed character, Hamlet's love interest.
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Author's summary: Taylor Swift's album lacks substance despite its promising imagery.