Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” paints a portrait of a serial narcissist
Taylor Swift thinks she’s the centre of the universe. She’s not necessarily wrong, but anyway… her sixth studio album (the third of her pure pop phase) consists of a bunch of songs about how important Taylor Swift is, and how poorly Taylor Swift has been treated by men and by the media. Because that’s exactly what we needed to hear in 2017.
Her previous release “1989” was a really solid pop record, high-energy and sexually impassioned; however, it also launched her “Swift Squad” brand of exclusive cliquey feminism which nobody over the age of 16 approved of. “Reputation” is almost a deconstruction of that; Taylor has abandoned the Squad and now officially cares about nobody except herself and maybe the dude from Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.
The impact of first single “Look What You Made Me Do”, with its infamous line “The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now, because she’s DEAD”, is lessened significantly within the album structure — every track on “Reputation” is thematically similar, if subtler.
The more romantic songs are the better ones — let’s remember that her best songs “New Romantics”, “Holy Ground” are neither heartbroken nor self-pitying. The quite excellent “Delicate” and “So It Goes” have some of the melancholy of the songs I just mentioned. “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” is this album’s “Bad Blood”, full of sarcastic vocals — your enjoyment of it will depend very much for your tolerance of Swift’s public persona. “Don’t Blame Me” is as close to early-2000s Britney (and Hozier’s “Take Me To Church”) as “Delicate” is to The Weeknd’s 2016 hit “Starboy”.
“Dress” and “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” are profoundly generic Top 40, just two of the songs on this album unfathomably infused with autotune. “Call It What You Want” and “Gorgeous” have their moments. “…Ready For It?” is truly appalling. Avoid “Endgame” if — like any sensible soul — you’d rather not hear Ed Sheeran rap.
I have more time for Taylor Swift than most people — particularly men — that I know, and I appreciate her attempts at stylistic reinvention. “1989” was my kind of pop record, this one not so much. But it certainly lives up to expectations, in its own fairly offputting way.
