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Taylor Swift just released her 12th album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” and it arrives in the shadow of some huge transformations in the pop star’s life. The Eras Tour, which went to stadiums on five continents and became the highest grossing tour of all time, came to a conclusion at the end of last year. She acquired the rights to her master recordings after a long public battle. And she got engaged, to the football star (and podcaster) Travis Kelce.
Each of these threads is alluded to on “Showgirl,” in musical, lyrical or thematic terms. Swift exults over her new love, but she also rapturously captures what it feels like to be at war with someone. The songs — made with longtime collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, who have been responsible for some of her glossiest pop hits — are a little more modestly scaled than one might expect, but still sit neatly along Swift’s sharpest work.
On this week’s Popcast, a conversation between the hosts Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli about the many shades of “Showgirl”; how Swift’s songwriting has developed in the post- “Folklore” era; who the new songs might be about — and why it matters; and whether or not romantic and sexual love is more powerful than the draw of an enemy.
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The post Breaking Down Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ appeared first on New York Times.
