Buckle up Swifties, we are entering the new era of Showgirl! With Taylor Swift’s announcement of her upcoming album, The Life of a Showgirl, it is no shock that she is no longer a Tortured Poet. With any new era, she is switching up her sound and energy – and Showgirl has been no different. Swift is already emanating a new vivacious vibe and blingy aesthetic before the release of her new album.
With the announcement of a Showgirl premiere, we know now that “The Fate of Ophelia” will be this era’s lead single and have its own music video. This choice is very interesting to me, as there has been a lot of easter eggs nodding to this song (the bathtub album cover, the 47 mentions, etc.), making fans like me intrigued to know why she chose this song as the album’s opener and lead single. I’m predicting that this choice will be similar to the choice of “Fortnight” for TTPD, and it similarly being the first (and only) single and music video from that era. Fans noticed that the choice of “Fortnight” paralleled the lyrics of “Hits Different,” the last song off the Midnights album. The asylum metaphor and visuals of “Fortnight” set up the theme of TTPD and was an excellent summarizing song for TTPD. I feel as though “The Fate of Ophelia” will mirror this for TLOAS. It will be a connecting piece between TTPD and TLOAS with mentions and metaphors relating to historic literary figures, most notably from Shakespeare. It would be no shock to me if the contents of the song reflected Ophelia’s story and her persistent feeling of being controlled by people in her life, connecting back to Taylor’s tortured and imprisoned analogies from the previous era.
The concept of this album being a behind the scenes look at her “showgirl” life and The Eras Tour is one that fans have been begging for for a while. Making an album with this idea is a perfect way for Taylor to express her satisfaction with the accomplishment that was the Eras Tour, while simultaneously highlighting how exhausting and tolling it was to put on the show 149 times. This album concept can also give fans a behind the scenes look at her life without having to give up too much about her private life. As Taylor has been entering new eras in her own life, like gaining back her masters and getting engaged to NFL player Travis Kelce, we can only assume that these major moments have impacted her inspiration levels and could impact future artistic choices. Though this album was written before those two events, we could be in for a happier and more upbeat album than the most recent ones.
She has also chosen to return to working with producers Max Martin and Shellback, who Swift has worked with previously, notably on some of her biggest pop hits on 1989 and Reputation. The songs they have created together have had such unique and excellent production to make the music distinct, but exceptionally addictive. Personally, I feel like Taylor has really leaned into her songwriting ability recently, as this ability of hers has become noted globally and praised extensively. Not that songwriting is something new to Swift’s songs, but this album could amplify this talent to those who listen. Combining that with her return to pop melodies – I feel like we are in for another masterful album.
I’ve been enamored with the rollout of this album. Starting off with the announcement on the Kelce brother’s podcast, New Heights, which gave us 2 HOURS of Taylor discussing her life recently and a background look into this album. The numerous locked down website countdowns have been a fun way to release album variants one by one. Though Taylor is not new to releasing multiple vinyl variants, the countdowns and colors have been fun enough to check the website as soon as it expires. And I don’t blame her for releasing all these covers, the pictures (taken by Mert Alaş and Marcus Piggott, who notably worked on the Reputation cover shoot) have been nothing short of fun to consume.
It’s been announced that she will be appearing on multiple late night talk shows, including Graham Norton, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers. It has been a while since she has made appearances on talk shows like these, so fans can expect Swift to have a lot to say on this album (and I’m hoping for a performance or two). With the additional announcement of her sudo-documentary, which includes the music video for “The Fate of Ophelia,” lyric videos for each song, and some behind the scenes breakdown on making the album, fans can also expect a peek into Taylor’s songwriting process, and hearing insights into what inspired Swift to make these songs.
Though I would be thrilled and excited with any new release of music from Taylor Swift, I am exceptionally excited for this era, as the lavish promotion and thoughtful dedication to this album’s theme has made me exhilarated for what’s to come.