The Life of a Showgirl, the latest album from country-singer-turned-popstar Taylor Swift, is out in the world, and the reviews are… mixed.
The album, which has a dozen tracks and runs for about 42 minutes, is Swift’s 12th studio album. The star has previously said she wrote the project during the European stretch of her legendary Eras Tour.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right,” Swift posted on X. “A forever thank you goes out to my mentors and friends Max and Shellback for helping me paint this self portrait.”
The twelve songs featured on the album are:
- “The Fate of Ophelia”
- “Elizabeth Taylor”
- “Opalite”
- “Father Figure”
- “Eldest Daughter”
- “Ruin The Friendship”
- “Actually Romantic”
- “Wi$h Li$t”
- “Wood”
- “CANCELLED!”
- “Honey”
- “The Life of a Showgirl”
The Life of a Showgirl has a single feature: the title track, which includes fellow popstar Sabrina Carpenter.
Despite only being released at midnight, The Life of a Showgirl has been a hot topic since August, when Swift announced it on an episode of the New Heights podcast, co-hosted by her fiance, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his brother, fellow NFL player Jason Kelce.
But fan reviews are mixed. Some people enjoy the project, calling it an ode to love and a representation of her talent.
“The Life of a Showgirl is Taylor Swift’s opus in so many ways. Her unbridled confidence and joy is on full display and she proves once again that her only competition is herself,” one X user shared.
“There is so much personal reflection on Showgirl but this time it’s all wrapped in the haze of the happiness she’s found and I love love love love love that,” another fan said on X.
Read More
But online, many people say it feels Swift missed the mark, both with the song themes and the lyrics.
“Taylor’s The Life of a Showgirl feels almost claustrophobically inward. She’s so consumed with her own mythology (high school heartbreaks, breakups, reputation arcs) that she can’t create music that mirrors the cultural moment,” one X user shared.
“The Life of a Showgirl is actually such a bad, conservative, cheesy, and cheaply coded mess of an album that could have not come out at a worse time to try to pretend like a “slay rich b***h” and punch down at other successful female acts in the industry,” another said.
“I think I’m disappointed because lyrically a lot of these songs come off as juvenile & out of touch and nothing tied the songs together thematically despite it being marketed as a look into The Life of a Showgirl~~~ it felt like the life of a Facebook millenial.”
This is Swift’s fifth album in the last five years. She released Folklore and Evermore in 2020, Midnights in 2022, and The Tortured Poets Department in 2024.
By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.
