Review: Taylor Swift turns torture into triumph on “The Tortured Poets Department”

 

A year out from its release, Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album “The Tortured Poets Department,” released on April 19, 2024, demands reevaluation. It remains an enigma in her storied catalogue for being an unexpected addition to the pantheon of “mass exodus albums,” a term coined by online creator Mic the Snare.

On “The Tortured Poets Department,” Swift relishes in the opportunity to excise her emotional turmoil by queueing more lurid instrumentation and songwriting that often feels like freeform poetry. Sometimes this approach makes for a truly great song, but sometimes it falters, and each time it begs the listener to decipher the meaning for themselves.

“Fortnight” appears to be about her brief relationship with Matty Healy, judging by the lyrics “I only loved you for a fortnight” and “I love you, it’s ruining my life.” Post Malone sings a decent solo verse and provides great backing vocals that contrast Swift’s well.

The title track gives the impression that this album is attempting to marry the styles of “Midnights” and “folklore,” resulting in sparse pop production from returning collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner that really works.

”Down Bad” has some interesting electronic elements reminiscent of arcade games or early Owl City. “So Long, London” seems to be about Joe Alwyn, implying he cheated on her. It picks up in tempo after the slowness of the preceding tracks, evoking a panicked heartbeat.

”But Daddy I Love Him” harkens back to “Speak Now,” both with its embittered storytelling and increased sonic palette, making for an early favorite. “Fresh Out the Slammer” emerges immediately with a country sound more reminiscent of “evermore” than her early material, complete with a tempo change mid-song.

”Florida!!!” contains forceful percussion from Antonoff and sees Swift and Florence and the Machine adapting well to each other’s styles as they are combined for a baroque banger whose instrumentation contrasts its lyrical content perfectly.

“Guilty as Sin?” has some great acoustic guitar, while “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” builds to a climax that sonically replicates provoking someone to have an outburst thanks in part to a strong vocal performance from Swift.

The instrumentation of “I Can Fix Him” fittingly sounds industrial, with the percussion sounding like a hammer hitting an anvil. “loml,” the first piano ballad on the record, is a solemn condemnation of Alwyn.

”I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is the closest the album gets to a straightforward synthpop sound, complete with a well-earned key change at the end. “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” is another biting takedown of Alwyn with Swift’s best piano and vocal performances on the album.

The album reaches a gratifying conclusion with “The Alchemy” and “Clara Bow,” which break away from the recurring lyrical themes to focus on self-empowerment and see Swift finally looking forward after a tumultuous year, though her name dropping herself in the final track feels a bit odd.

Overall, “The Tortured Poets Department” ends up as a step above Taylor Swift’s previous album by getting way more personal, though its emphasis on more poetic lyricism leaves much to be desired. While by no means a perfect album, it was a necessary step for Swift to take, and hopefully she can move on from here to keep redefining what she does best.