Taylor Swift has made it known that she does not like being called “calculated”, and I get it. To refer to a woman by that word implies a certain tone that one would not give to a man, who normally would be called something like “ambitious”. It’s a shame to me that she doesn’t like this term, because I consider the word a grand compliment and I believe it applies to the pop star. As we enter the tenth month of 2025, Swift has her twelfth album, The Life Of A Showgirl, out. And there is a lot that is needed to calculate.
We use the word “era” to describe Swift, which is understandable considering it was the name of her last series of shows that were so impressive you would generally liken it more as a military excursion than a tour. As her Eras Tour has come to an end, Swift has seen several other chapters in the book of her life reach their conclusion. She ended her years-long feud with Scooter Braun and is now in complete control of the masters of her own recordings. Also, she is no longer a single woman, recently engaged to Travis Kelce, who we may be discussing more in this review.
Where old chapters end, new ones begin. While Swift ends a few eras in her life, we are in a point where she does find herself in a role where she hasn’t found herself in nearly fifteen years: pop starlet underdog. Last year, something happened that I don’t think anyone who has their finger on the pulse of American pop culture could have expected, and that was that a Taylor Swift album was released and got usurped in the public zeitgeist. After 2024’s The Tortured Poets Depatment came out, everyone expected it to capture the public eye for the rest of the year. But when the smoke had cleared, Taylor, who almost exclusively finds herself holding the gold medal, was sitting in the bronze position looking up at Chappell and Sabrina. Now, to her credit, all three women never spoke of this, each seeming overjoyed for the massive success all women had in pop. And I am not here to try and play any of these singers off as some sort of catty fiend… doing so would fall into worse tropes than calling someone “calculated”. But it is hard not to think that, at some point, Swift didn’t look at the 2024 album sales or downloads and wonder why she was not in her usual spot on top.
Perhaps this is why she chose to return to Max Martin and Shellback for The Life Of A Showgirl. Martin, the Swede who has worked with people like Britney Spears, Katy Perry and The Backstreet Boys, is responsible for the biggest hits of Taylor’s career. “We Are Never Getting Back Together”, “Blank Space”, “Shake It Off”, “22”, “I Knew You Were Trouble”, “Bad Blood”, “Wildest Dreams”, “Delicate”… all songs with Max Martin’s name on them. It is clear: When Taylor Swift needs a radio-friendly megahit, there is one person she goes to, and he is really good at knowing how to deliver.
Which is what makes Showgirl such an interesting listen. Because it’s a very engaging album, and quite good… but there’s not a single hit on this thing… and that’s a positive.
In the past, when we have seen a Swift/Martin/Shellback collaboration, there has been a lot of glitz and glamour, bombast and hooks. It often feels as though there is a tug between the singer and producer. Swift is a fan of a lyrical style which can only be referred to as hyper-literate; often using a sing-song melody to allow herself to write and write and write. Max Martin in the opposite: If he can find the right groove, he likes his singers to hold the notes and watch as they blend into his sonic landscapes. So often, this conflict can lead to great art. On albums like Red and 1989, it seemed like there was a big swing that Swift took with her Martin bat that didn’t sail out of the park as a massive home run. Now, and I realize that I am in the minority, but I find the collabs the two did for Reputation to be absolute whiffs. So, when I put on this new album, I didn’t know what my reaction would be. I knew that, based on their history together, I would be hearing big swings. But how would those connect with me?
Turns out, I’m unable to answer that question. Because I got the premise wrong.
Listening to opening track “The Fate Of Ophelia”, which has Swift singing the opening verse as if she is doing an impression of past collaborator Lana Del Rey, I was stunned to not hear some attempt to set the algorithm on fire. The song establishes a groove and just lays into it and asks you to get on. And this is how the whole album feels. Sure, every now and then you get a poppier song like “Opalite”, the most singable song of the album. But this album is not about Swift trying to make an album full of hits with the help of the most reliable man to help her do so.
Showgirl feels as though Swift has realized that she has gotten the majority of new fans that she is ever going to have. But the advantage of not having an expanding fan base is that your listeners are now a group who ages with you. There is no need to be Peter Pan when all the kids in Neverland are also growing up. Because of this, Swift doesn’t have to be something she isn’t. She can be a modern adult woman, happily engaged. Madonna had the same situation in the 1990’s, and maybe that is why I cannot listen to Showgirl and not think about Ray Of Light, the album where Madge stopped trying to outshock and outsex and just make a pop record for grown-ups.
That isn’t to say that you cannot hear Martin’s presence. Lyrically, this new album feels like the most edited Swift has been as a lyricist since Reputation or Lover. Now, this isn’t to say that this album feels stifled in any way; clearly Taylor is saying all the things she needs to say. But, in her most verbose tracks (you see this a lot on evermore), it feels like she’s using 45 words when 10 would do. Here, that number is down to around 15. There is also still the shine of Martin, and you hear that in songs like “Father Figure” and “Actually Romantic”. Martin and Shellback laid out some great production and yet, it never feels desperate or cloying for mass consumption approval. Swift isn’t trying to hit home runs here; she’s comfortable hitting to all fields, especially if she can talk about her fiancé while doing so.
As my friend Jordan Holmes pointed out in his much-more-critical take on this album, so many of these songs are clearly about Travis Kelce. Often, it’s sweet to listen and think about how crazy in love these two kids are. However, then there is “Wood”, and we get to hear all about the dude’s hog. Creating so many double entendres and puns that you wonder if you are reading the script to Porky’s, Swift channels her inner Exile In Guyville-era Liz Phair. Is it unsettling? A little. Is it a little embarrassing? Sure. But unlike songs like “London Boy”, I find this more of a gentle eye roll than a outward retch.
While the benefit of having a tone across the album is that it’s so easily digestible, the downside to this is that there has the potential to not be a breakout smash. While “Fate Of Ophelia” is the first single, I imagine that when “Opalite” gets a video, that will be the song that people are talking about (and the song which will probably end up on my best songs list this year). And yet, even that song isn’t one that I think would end up on a master list I would make of the best songs Taylor has ever written. Because all of these songs feel similar (and should because of their thematic resonance), it didn’t feel like there was a standout song. But there is, and it’s the only ballad on the album.
“Eldest Daughter” feels like the one song Martin didn’t get his hands on. It’s a little sloppier and looser than the other tracks and feels like Swift wanting to show that took some lessons from her Jack Antonoff/Aaron Dessner collaborations. It’s a little more raw and unrefined, and because of that, it feels so different when it arrives (all while showcasing the glimmer and shine from the rest of the album). It was a wise move for Swift to put it in.
Some might even say it was calculated.
As of this moment, here is where The Life Of A Showgirl falls in my Taylor rankings:
1. Red
2. 1989
3. folklore
4. Midnights
5. The Life Of A Showgirl
6. Lover
7. Speak Now
8. evermore
9. The Tortured Poets Department
10. Fearless
11. Self-Titled
12. Reputation
Fancy Boys Club 