Fortnight
A melodious duet with Post Malone and a song that’s apparently about a two-week fling. Slow electronic rhythms set the initial tone.
The Department of Tortured Poets
Another shimmering melody and a lyric that suggests Taylor modestly doesn’t see herself at the top table of tortured poets: “You’re not Dylan Thomas and I’m not Patti Smith.”
My child only breaks his favorite toys.
Written exclusively by Swift, the dense electronic drone of this song adds powerful notes. “Once he fixes me, he’ll miss me,” she promises.
down bad
“It all comes from teenage petulance,” Taylor sings as she bitterly examines the fallout from an old relationship.
See you later, London
The first song written with The National’s Aaron Dessner brings a change of pace, with a beautiful choral introduction. “See you later London, you’ll find someone,” Taylor sings.
This is her first new album since the end of her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, and although she doesn’t mention Alwyn by name, speculation will be rife that tracks like So Long, London are about him. Pictured together in 2019
But daddy I love him
“I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I love,” Swift sings, displaying wry humor as she admits she falls for bad boys. Produced, with true brilliance, by Dessner.
Just out of jail
Finger-picked acoustic guitar adds folk notes reminiscent of lockdown albums Folklore and Evermore.
Florida!!!
The highlight of the album, this theatrical duet with London singer Florence Welch is an inspiring song of escape, from small-town life and bad romance.
Guilty as a sin?
A story of unrequited love and a gorgeous slice of ’80s-style soft rock. He even mentions The Downtown Lights, a 1989 single by Scottish band The Blue Nile.
Who’s afraid of little me?
Big drums, a dramatic arrangement and more dry humor in another song written solely by Swift. “You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where I was raised,” she growls.
I can fix it (No, I really can)
A melancholic and simple song worthy of Lana Del Rey, who has also worked extensively with the song’s producer, Jack Antonoff.
The Alchemy: Many sports metaphors suggest a song inspired by the singer’s current boyfriend, American football star Travis Kelce. Photographed at Coachella this week
loml
“You said I’m the love of your life,” Taylor sings on this warm, resonant piano ballad. In a clever twist, the ‘loml’ eventually becomes ‘the loss of my life’.
I can do it with a broken heart
More ’80s influences in an electronic pop song in which Taylor promises to remain a trouper, despite any romantic conflict.
The smallest man who ever lived
“You were no match for any man,” sings a disdainful Swift in a melodramatic ballad.
alchemy
Many sports metaphors suggest a song inspired by the singer’s current boyfriend, American football star Travis Kelce. “When I land, I call the fans and exclude them from the team,” he sings.
Clara Arco
It’s tempting to think that Taylor sees something of herself in a closing track inspired by a 1920s American actress who lived her life in the fishbowl of Hollywood.