After concluding her Eras Tour, Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” on Oct. 3. This is her first album since buying back the rights to her first six albums in May, and it highlights the personal experiences and behind-the-scenes aspects of her life.
“I think my expectations are very high because everybody was trying to go to her concert last year and kept talking about her album,” said freshman Olivia Dubose-Odell.
She announced this new album on Aug. 12 on Jason and Travis Kelce’s podcast, New Heights. “This represents the end of my night. So when I’m on tour, I have the same day every single day,” Swift said. “I wanted to sort of like glamorize all the different aspects of how that tour felt. And that’s how that felt to like be at the end of the night when all this has gone down.” Since the announcement, fans have been actively sharing theories online about the themes and direction of the new album.
During the podcast, Travis Kelce adds that the album is “a lot more upbeat, and it’s a lot more like fun, pop, like excitement.” Meanwhile, Swift has also shared that the producers on the album are Max Martin, Shellback, and herself. The three together have made hits like “22,” “Shake It Off”, “Style”, and “I Knew You Were Trouble”.
“I think it’s going to be a happier album because of you know, the producer who also produced 1989, and that’s a banger of an album,” said junior Sydney Sherrill.
The cover art and posters also feature lots of diamonds, feathers, and glitter, with primary colors of orange and turquoise, reflecting the classic showgirl style she is trying to embody. The album’s artwork hints at a new creative direction for Swift, suggesting a shift from the styles in her past eras. She also notes that she enjoys releasing as many posters as possible so fans can truly immerse themselves in the world she is creating vicariously through the album.
“Millions of new Swifties joined her fan base during the Eras Tour, so I imagine it will be yet another record-setting album,” said Patrick Cromwell, the athletics director at Sparta.
Swift has been making music for 19 years; her debut album was released in 2006, and she’s had fans hooked ever since. Each album has shown a unique side of her to her audience, from country to pop to folk. She continues to reinvent her style, and now “The Life of a Showgirl” is a unique kind of storytelling unlike anything she has ever done before.
