Taylor Swift Pulls the Curtain Back of Her World on ‘The Life of a Showgirl’: Review

Taylor Swift knows that the show must go on.

After feeling “down bad” on last year’s pensive The Tortured Poets Department and its accompanying deluxe edition The Anthology, the superstar says so long to gloom and heartbreak as she raises the curtain on a new era with The Life of a Showgirl.

The dazzling album — as Swift revealed on her fiancé Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast — was inspired by her behind-the-scenes life while on the road for her record-shattering Eras Tour, a period she described as “exuberant and electric and vibrant.”

TLOAS, Swift’s 12th album released on Friday, Oct. 3, measures up to each of those labels, too. This time around, she got back in the studio with Max Martin and Shellback. With the Swedish megaproducers, Swift has crafted some of the biggest and most beloved hits of her prolific catalog, including “22,” “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Style” and “Delicate.”

That trio cowrote and -produced all 12 tracks on TLOAS, her most radio-friendly collection of pure pop songs since her 2014 crossover album 1989. Reunited, and it sounds so, so good. Thematically, the record is the spiritual sister of reputation.

Like that 2017 masterpiece, there’s some score settling, but at the heart of TLOAS, it’s a love story. Not since 2019’s Lover has Swift — who got engaged to Chiefs tight end Kelce in August after two years together — sounded so head over heels. Sonically, the songs on TLOAS are a return to form and would seamlessly fit on a playlist between cuts from any of those three albums, with earworm hooks, inventive ad libs and retro production flourishes to boot.

Swift opens the show with “The Fate of Ophelia.” With its Shakespearean references, the lead single is both a fitting segue from TTPD’s literary lore and a callback to Swift’s early-career, Romeo and Juliet-influenced standout “Love Story.” After weathering two public breakups on tour in 2023, Swift sings of a lover who “saved” her heart from tragedy: “Keep it 100 / On the land, the sea, the sky / Pledge allegiance to your hands / Your team, your vibes … No longer drowning and deceived / All because you came for me.”

As on the opening track, Swift seemingly pulls back the curtain on her private world with Kelce throughout TLOAS. On the titillating, entendre-laden “Wood” Swift regales sparks-flying infatuation over a guitar groove reminiscent of the Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back.” “It’s you and me forever, dancing in the dark / But for me it’s understood, I ain’t got to knock on wood / Forgive me, it sounds cocky / He hypnotized me and opened my eyes / Redwood tree, it ain’t hard to see / His love was the key to open my thighs,” she sings on the sexy track. “Girls, I don’t need to catch the bouquet / To know a hard rock is on the way.”

Swift opens the show with “The Fate of Ophelia.” With its Shakespearean references, the lead single is both a fitting segue from TTPD’s literary lore and a callback to Swift’s early-career, Romeo and Juliet-influenced hit “Love Story.” After weathering two public breakups on tour in 2023, Swift sings of a lover who “saved” her heart from tragedy: “Keep it 100 / On the land, the sea, the sky / Pledge allegiance to your hands / Your team, your vibes … No longer drowning and deceived / All because you came for me.”

Swift returns to high school on the deceptively titled, sentimental “Ruin the Friendship” to deliver the album’s emotional gut-punch. Flexing her unmatched storytelling skills, she sings about an unrequited childhood crush, reminiscing on the good old days on the lake and at prom before — keep your tissues at the ready — learning of his death after leaving school: “Abigail called me with the bad news / Goodbye / And we’ll never know why.” It’s the most effective, devastating twist she’s sprung on listeners as a songwriter since her brilliant “The Last Great American Dynasty” on folklore (2020).

After perfecting playfully playing the villain on past fan-favorites like “I Did Something Bad,” “Mad Woman” and “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” Swift reprises that role on TLOAS.

On the George Michael-interpolating “Father Figure,” she sings of a character swinging their BDE around while taking a “dear protege” to task (“I was your father figure / You pulled the wrong trigger / This empire belongs to me”).

And while Swift leaves squabbles with familiar foes like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West in the past on TLOAS, internet sleuths already think the diss track “Actually Romantic” is aimed at another pop star whom fans believe shaded her last year. “High-fived my ex then said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song sayin’ it makes you sick to see my face,” Swift seethes. “Some people might be offended / But it’s actually sweet, all the time you’ve spent on me / It’s honestly wild / All the effort you’ve put in / It’s actually romantic / I really gotta hand it to you / No man has ever loved me like you do.”

TLOAS ends with a rare duet with Sabrina Carpenter on the title track — appropriate, as the “Espresso” singer opened for Swift on the Eras Tour. Together, the pop-star pals share the story of a showgirl named Kitty, who passes down her pearls of wisdom to the next generation of performers. Underscoring a shared love of the stage, they sing of sisterhood and sharing the spotlight through all blood, sweat and tears it takes to get to the top: “I’m married to the hustle / And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe / And I’ll never know another / Pain hidden by the lipstick and lace / Sequins are forever … Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

As they say, that’s showbiz, baby.