- Swift has divided opinion with her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, which was released on Friday, April 19
- While some critics called the record “undeniably triumphant”, others have branded it Swift’s “most forgettable album”
- It was expected that the album would solely be about her ex boyfriend, Joe Alwyn – but Swift surprised fans by making thinly veiled references to her following fling of only a few weeks, Matty Healy
After months of waiting, the day has finally arrived – Taylor Swift’s new album is here!
Titled The Tortured Poets Department, the singer’s 11th record has been eagerly anticipated by fans and critics alike since she made the announcement at the Grammy awards in February.
The rumor mill started up straight away, with followers of Swift, 34, convinced that the main focus of the album would be the breakdown of her relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, also 34, who she was with for six years until early last year.
But while some songs do hint at the past romance, it’s the apparent references to her fling with 1975 frontman Matty Healy – which lasted just a few weeks following her split from Alwyn – that have surprised fans the most.
The album has split opinion among critics, with some labeling the record “undeniably triumphant”, while others have branded it Swift’s “most forgettable album”.
Billboard
“The Tortured Poets Department is extreme in its emotions and uninterested in traditional hits; not everyone will love it, but the ones who get it will adore it fiercely. As Swift continues this current astonishing run of superstardom, she has once again pushed herself to strike a new pose. It’s what makes her special — and what turns The Tortured Poets Department into yet another triumph.”
NME – 3/5
“Swift seems to be in tireless pursuit for superstardom, yet the negative public opinion it can come with irks her, and it’s a tired theme now plaguing her discography and leaving little room for the poignant lyrical observations she excels at. It’s why the pitfalls that mire her 11th studio album are all the more disappointing — she’s proven time and time again she can do better. To a Melbourne audience of her Eras Tour, Swift said that The Tortured Poets Department came from a ‘need’ to write. It’s just that maybe we didn’t need to hear it.”
The Guardian – 4/5
“There’s clearly a risk involved in calling out elements of your own fanbase, however justified said attack is, but Swift pulls it off. She can do it because she’s an exceptionally talented writer: there’s a depth and maturity to this album that makes her competitors look a little wan by comparison. Clearly, the monocultural ubiquity she’s achieved isn’t terribly healthy for anything other than her bank balance – The Tortured Poets Department seems to concur – but if we have to have a single artist dominating pop, we could have picked worse.”
BBC
“Yes, this is a break-up album. But Taylor Swift didn’t get to be Taylor Swift by adhering to the rules. Throughout her career, she’s swerved expectations, transitioning from teen-queen country star to pop phenomenon and, during the pandemic, a folksy author of intricate character studies. On The Tortured Poets Department, she blurs the lines between her personas – writing both as diarist and fantasist, sometimes within the same song.”
Dazed
“When she first announced her 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), at the Grammy’s earlier this year, I, like most people, felt slightly annoyed that she would once again dominate the charts and thus the discourse. But at the same time, I was hopeful. Producing another album so close to Midnights would mean she wouldn’t regurgitate the same predictable (and slightly annoying) pop sound. While TTPD does differ from Midnights (still poppy but in a much more understated way), it is, unfortunately, a worse album.”
Variety
“Not many superstars would devote an entire song to confessing that they’ve only pretended to be the super-happy figure fans thought they were seeing pass through their towns, and that they were seeing an illusion. (Presumably she doesn’t have to fake it in the present day, but that’s the story of the next album, maybe.) But that speaks to the dichotomy that has always been Taylor Swift: on record, as good and honest a confessional singer-songwriter as any who ever passed through the ports of rock credibility; in concert, a great, fulsome entertainer like Cher squared. Fortunately, in Swift, we’ve never had to settle for just one or the other. No one else is coming for either job — our best heartbreak chronicler or our most uplifting popular entertainer. It’s like that woman in the movie theater says: Heartache feels good in a place like that. And it sure feels grand presented in its most distilled, least razzly-dazzly essence in The Tortured Poets Department.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
“The Tortured Poets Department will be divisive. It’s different to what the teaser images suggested – there’s less art and depth here than that – and much of it will be baffling to those who aren’t deeply versed in Swift lore. There’s no denying that Swift is a skilled songwriter, and some of these songs are slow-burn growers, but when she sings, ‘I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it’s an art,’ on I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, one can’t help but wonder whether taking a break might be the best tonic of all.”
Rolling Stone
“The Tortured Poets Department has a Reputation edge to it, and like Reputation, it sounds designed to confuse many people who try to decode it before listening. In her Summary Poem, Taylor calls it ‘a debrief, a detailed rewinding/For the purpose of warning/For the sake of reminding.’ But anyone can hear that deep in the music. All over these songs, Taylor lives up to her credo that ‘all’s fair in love and poetry.’ But as she shows in The Tortured Poets Department, both can get brutal.”
