After two months of waiting following the album announcement on Aug. 12, the much-anticipated release of Taylor Swift’s twelfth studio album is upon us. Last night, Swift reintroduced her love affair with spectacle and storytelling through twelve tracks of a dazzling pop refresh, all wrapped up in a glittering 41 minutes.
Browsing: the tortured poets department
If you’re searching for the ultimate finals week playlist, look no further. Here is some of the best new music to get you motivated and provide some much-needed moral support during the final stretch.
With this album, Taylor Swift sells her own misery. Without divulging the secret torture of her relationships with Matty Healy and Joe Alwyn and teasing the cute, triumphant moments with Travis Kelce (“The Alchemy”), this album wouldn’t sell as much as it has. The lore of Taylor Swift — who she dates, why they break up — keeps the machine running, not the music itself.
In fall 2024, Dr. Sebastian Langdell and Dr. Ginger Hanchey — both medievalists, both Swifties — will teach “Lit (Taylor’s Version),” a course that promises to put the music of the generation’s biggest pop star into context with literary greats such as William Wordsworth, Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde.