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Swifties from all over the world officially became members of the Tortured Poets Department. “The Tortured Poets Department” is Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album and was released on Friday, April 19. Like the mastermind she is, Swift again has outdone herself with these new 16 songs as she emphasizes vulnerability and her raw emotions after her recent breakup.
The album begins with “Fortnight,” which features Post Malone. Without listening, I could already tell who the song was directed towards: Joe Alwyn and Matt Healy (two British men Swift has dated) as fortnight is a British term for two weeks. Swift composes deliberate and beautiful songwriting to emphasize how she is still not over her recent relationships. She emphasizes all the rabbit holes she has gone into since, which can be seen in the accompanying music video with the song. After listening to this first track, I could already tell I was going to fall in love with this album.
A highlight of the album was, of course, ‘track 5,’ which was “So Long, London.” This is the second time Swift ever used London in her songs: first in 2019 in “London Boy,” which was about her love for Alwyn and now in 2023 after they had broken up. The song starts with Swift’s harmonization, which mimics church wedding bells. Throughout the song, she highlights the attempts she has given to revive their relationship, which ultimately ends up dying, with mentioning two graves at the end of the track.
After the first listen, “Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine)” was my favorite (this will change). This song stood out to me because it was written right after her breakup with Joe, which was the days right before the Tampa shows of the Eras Tour. Swift portrayed how the tour and Florida was an escape from her problems, to rebrand herself after the end of the six-year relationship. Not to mention, Florence + The Machine’s voice also adds an extra layer to the song, adding a mysterious and mystical vibe, which I really enjoyed. I also really liked the drums throughout the track, as it added an element of dramatism to it.
“The Alchemy” was Swift’s first song about her new boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and is definitely one to remember. This was a classic Swift and Jack Antonoff song; there were hints of Antonoff’s production dropped all throughout especially with the melody and the buildups to the bridge. What I found special though was that there are several football references scattered throughout the song, such as “Where’s the trophy? He just comes runnin’ over to me,” which Kelce did indeed do after winning a game that would the Chiefs’ spot in the Superbowl.
The 16-track album concluded with “Clara Bow,” which sounds like a song straight out of a fairytale. The song was named after silent film star, Clara Bow, who was Hollywood’s original “It Girl.” and whose life ended tragically. I think with this song, Swift is drawing an allusion to her own relationship with fame; she knows all the consequences it comes with and is trying to emphasize that a change is necessary for not only her but other female celebrities as well. “Clara Bow” has a mesmerizing melody to it and is a song I would listen to over and over again.
But it doesn’t end there just yet. The night of the release at 2:00 a.m., Swift announced an additional ending, and at 2 a.m., she announced that “The Tortured Poets Department” was going to be a double album, meaning an additional 15 songs. Swift surely does not stop with her surprises and easter eggs. If you are a Swiftie, you are going to immediately fall in love with this album and even if you are not one, I recommend giving these songs a listen. She demonstrates the five stages of grief quite literally perfectly.
