Taylor Swift's latest studio album (the first out her seven albums and fourteen years in the music industry that she retains full ownership of) Lover, is pure magic. A love letter to love itself, the album features 18 songs, more than any of her previous albums, and each one presents a unique yet relatable look on different experiences surrounding love. Laced with witty metaphors, painfully true and relatable sentiments, and simple yet beautifully delivered observations and memories, Taylor may have just delivered her most influential and prominent album to date.
As a die hard Swifty since her first self-titled album was released to the world when I was seven, I may be a little too biased to determine if the album is good or bad - because I can't ever imagine not liking anything written by her, I would read her to-do lists. However, being a seasoned fan, I am able to offer a review based on my love for her past work. To begin, if even a part of you likes pop music you cannot deny that these are fun and inherently catchy songs. Taylor, her co-producer Jack Antonoff, and her massive list of #1 songs on Billboard's music charts have proven that when it comes to writing songs, Taylor has a dazzling way.
Starting the album with I Forgot That You Existed is a classic Taylor, clever way to step away from her last album Reputation and any past rumors or drama prior to this new era of Lover. The album continues painting a beautiful and positive view on love and written through her current relationship with songs like Lover, and London Boy. She reflects on growing up and her view on love itself changing as she's learned more, in songs such as Daylight, The Archer, and Afterglow. She speaks out against homophobia and addresses the need for equality and acceptance through the songs You need to calm down, and ME!. In The Man, she addresses how media and the world in general have attacked her for having many relationships, for being one of the best selling music artists of all time, and for having such influence, power, and success in the spotlight, and how if she were a man it would not only be okay, but she would be the man for all she has accomplished.
Taylor Swift has grown up, and for those of us still doing it she equipped us with a detailed map, a thoughtful glossary of experiences, feelings, and how to survive it all. I am most definitely better off hearing the difficult, beautiful, and relatable experiences in her songs. I could write pages about the beautiful masterpiece that is this album, and how it might be her best work yet. But for now I'll sit with this album on repeat while waiting for the re-recordings of her previous six albums to be released with her finally owning her own music.
