Naming her latest album “reputation” Taylor Swift was seeking to make statement about herself in response to her critics, and she did. Swift sought to define her own reputation through her lyrics instead of letting others define it for her.
In her sixth album, Swift assumed a defiant style pairing it with grunge overtones and heavy electronic beats.
Trading her lighthearted lyrics for haunting lines and her country-pop style for the electro-dance-pop genre, Swift was sending a strong message to those who tried to cross her: don’t mess with me. The first two pre-releases she dropped, “LWYMD” and “…Ready For It?” took on a strong edgy quality as she directly addressed her critics and what they had done. The solid message was conveyed through a very cliché and electronic sound contrasting from her previous songs which had powerful musicality and non-synthetic instrumentals.
The next two pre-releases, “Gorgeous” and “Call It What You Want”, were notably lighter in content as she returned to her roots of writing love songs while still maintaining her newly cultivated gritty image.
These singles only catalyzed the hype for Swift’s most unsettling collection yet. For many Swifties, Nov. 10 could not get the album fast enough while others simply thought it would be interesting to see what storm Swift’s latest creation unleashed.
The first six songs of the album maintain a high intensity of angst and pumping adrenaline with songs like “End Game” an attractive collaboration with Ed Sheeran and Future, “I Did Something Bad” and “Don’t Blame Me.” The second half of the album depicted a much lighter illustration of the newly rogue and unpredictable pop-star with upbeat anthems like “Getaway Car” and “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.”
“reputation” has been met with much criticism as many feel like Swift has strayed away from her original sound, but as she states in what Spotify names the most downloaded song in 24 hours, the old Taylor is dead.
Though hints of the old Taylor can be seen in a few of her eerie lovesick electronic ballads such as “So It Goes…” and “New Year’s Day” the last of the lineup, drops all pretenses and the effortless languish natural to her music returns.
All Swiftiness aside, she delivered another entertaining installment in the Taylor Swift saga of drama and the album did live up to its name, giving us insight into her new fired up mindset. At least fans know Swift is happy with her work as she sings in “Call It What You Want” and “I’m doing better than I ever was.”
Lauren Johnston // Backpage Editor and Business Manager
