From the Eras Tour to being Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, it is no secret that 2023 has been the year for Taylor Swift. 

On April 19, 2024, Swift released her 11th studio album, ‘The Tortured Poet’s Department’. To everyone’s surprise, at 2 am Eastern time, Swift officially announced 'The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology', with 15 new tracks, including the 4 Bonus tracks. Spanning 31 tracks and being over 2 hours long, the album presents a collection of tortured poetry. The album is a deeply personal work that delves into the complexities of love, heartbreak, reinvention, and the challenges of being an artist in the public eye, inspired by Swift's personal experiences and observations. 

The title of the album origins can be traced back to a group chat shared between Swift's former long-term partner, Joe Alwyn, and actors Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, dubbed ‘The Tortured Man Club’.

“This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up.” - Taylor Swift, 2024

Prior to release, the album is heavily influenced by the heartbreak surrounding her relationship with Joe Alwyn; to whom she once dedicated her most romantic songs. Songs like ‘Call It What You Want’ stating how she wants to wear “his initial on a chain 'round (her) neck” and ‘Cornelia Street’ with lyrics like “I hope I never lose you, hope this never ends”. The heartbreaking parallels such as that from ‘Mirrorball’ “I'm still trying everything to get you laughing at me” turn to this album’s ‘So Long, London’ “I stopped trying to make him laugh”. The transition from a romantic ‘London Boy’- from her album ‘Lover’, with pink hearts and a rainbow sky, to a distant and grey ‘So Long, London’, there is no doubt the album is about a relationship grown cold.

“There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted… Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.” - Taylor Swift, 2024

However, if you are looking for a gossip album with some piping hot tea on what went down, you’d likely be disappointed. Taylor Swift’s new album is for Taylor Swift. It's not for the fans, critics, or charts. It is intended for her. Swift's vulnerability is on full display. With every listen, you can find yourself getting a better understanding of her mind from her exquisite storytelling skills. Her life narrative, her struggles with mental health and depression, her romantic mishaps, and the loneliness that accompanies being the most well-known person in the world at the same time are put all on exhibit.  

Through the songs and lyrics of the album, Taylor Swift tells a devastating story about being stretched thin and having to perform while keeping her true emotions hidden from the world that is watching her every move. The songs offer a detailed glimpse into her life in a manner that her prior albums have never done. ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is a raw and unfiltered, deeply personal piece of work that “reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time”, and it’s unlike a lot of what we have heard before. 

However, there are always two sides to every coin. ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is not a perfect album. Its ambitious scope and length have drawn mixed reactions from critics and the public. The album has been criticised for its repetitive themes, primarily focusing on heartbreak and breakups across its extensive 31-track lineup. Even for a Swiftie, the tracks do potentially become long-winded and monotonous. 

‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is a combination of the lyricism and intimate sound of ‘folklore’ and ‘evermore’, combined with the music style of ‘Midnights’. However, it is not as lyrically strong as those in ‘folklore’ and ‘evermore’ and lacks the radio bops and style variety ‘Midnights’ had. The lack of musical variety and consistent use of synth and drum beats blend a lot of the tracks together due to the similar production style. 

Quality over quantity does not seem to be on the album’s agenda. Instead of producing a really compelling album, she produced two albums with some great highs that are dragged down with lots of repetitive fillers.

Despite these criticisms, the album's standout tracks showcase Swift's ability to craft emotionally resonant and lyrically sophisticated catchy bops. 

Track 5 in each of Taylor’s albums is always an arrow to the heart. ‘So Long, London’ devastatingly captures the emotions of the loss of a relationship. There is fury amidst the sadness, with lyrics like: "I’m just mad as hell cause I loved this place" - referring to the fact she's lost London, the city she loved, as well as her relationship.

“Now I'm down bad crying at the gym, Everything comes out of teenage petulance / What if I can't have him / I might just die, it would make no difference." ‘Down Bad’ has some of the most melodramatic lyrics of the album paired with some of the catchiest beats. 

“What if he's written 'mine' on my upper thigh / Only in my mind?” On the first listen, the song didn’t have any stand-out element but after multiple relistens, the song grows on you and suddenly you can’t get enough of it. This song is believed to be about Matty Healy and the negativity surrounding him and his relationship with Taylor. The song references The Blue Nile, a Scottish band Matty has named as his favourite.

The Anthology’s first song, ‘The Black Dog’, is incredibly lovely, depressing, and sincere and captures the exact thoughts running through one’s mind during a heartbreak. It is precisely everything I thought this album would be.

The song is about Swift hitting an all-time high in her career with the Eras Tour despite going through immense heartache. She hides her true feelings behind a brave face, with the lyrics "Lights, camera, bitch smile” and “I cry a lot but I am so productive”, and it is truly iconic of her. 

All in all, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is a vulnerable, brutal, unhinged, and hopeful piece of art by Taylor Swift. While the album’s length and musical choices may not resonate with all listeners, its standout tracks and poetic lyrics make it a compelling experience for fans and critics alike. The album is a reflection of a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time, making it a deeply personal work.