Republic Records via AP Photo

Like most college-aged women, I found myself awake at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, eagerly waiting for my life to be changed by the release of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” 42 minutes later, I felt disappointed in Swift and confused as to if she actually wrote this album. After a few more listens, “The Life of a Showgirl” reveals upbeat, danceworthy tunes while also not being Swift’s most genre-pushing creation nor her most masterful lyrics.

Swift began “The Life of a Showgirl” while touring on The Eras Tour, sharing that writing the songs kept her mentally active while feeling physically exhausted. Swift reunited with producers Max Martin and Shellback for the album, whom she previously worked with on “Red,” “reputation” and “1989.” “1989” marked Swift’s transition to pop music and Rolling Stone included it on their list of 500 Greatest Albums – safe to say, Swift revolutionized pop with that album. When I heard Swift brought Martin and Shellback back onboard for “The Life of a Showgirl,” I immediately set high expectations. This is why I walked away from the album feeling so disappointed – Swift has proven she can make a masterful pop album with both good beats and strong lyricism, yet does not showcase that skill on her newest album.

“The Life of a Showgirl” leads with its strongest tracks. “The Fate of Ophelia,” a pop ballad quickly becoming TikTok’s newest dance trend, reimagines the ill-fated tale of Hamlet’s love interest. Rewriting Shakespeare is a recipe for success for Swift – think “Love Story.” Additionally, after the release of “folklore” and “evermore,” Swift proved herself masterful at interweaving literature into her tracks. Track two, “Elizabeth Taylor,” follows another beloved recipe of Swift’s, that of referencing Gilded Age stars as a metaphor for her own massive success. This track harkened back to “The Lucky One” from “Red,” “Wildest Dreams” from “1989” or “the last great american dynasty” from “folklore.” Swift shines on this album when she follows themes consistent with her previous work. Sonically, “Elizabeth Taylor” is reminiscent of tracks from “reputation,” moving between piano instrumentals and a booming backing track. The lyric “You’re only as hot as your last hit baby” certainly sums up the showgirl theme Swift promoted through months of marketing, emphasizing the pressure a woman in the public eye is constantly under to produce her next best thing (think – “And the crowd was chanting ‘more!’” from “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”).

One criticism of the rest of the album is that the showgirl theme fades into the background, secondary to Swift’s penchant for upbeat love songs. To this criticism I say: she’s a pop star, what do you expect? After announcing her engagement to Kansas City Chief’s tight end Travis Kelce, did we really expect an album full of wistful longing and breakup ballads? This takes us to track three, “Opalite,” named for the man-made gemstone and centered on making your own happiness. A quick beat and guitar chords set an electrifying tone for the song, supported by lyrics “You were dancing through the lightning strikes / Sleepless in the onyx night / But now the sky is opalite.” You can’t help but want to dance. Taking moments from her life and turning it into a catchy ballad is what Swift excels at, making “Opalite” a highlight of the album.

After the first three songs, the rest of the album feels weak. Listeners used to the poetic nature of “folklore” and “evermore” or the struggles portrayed on “The Tortured Poets Department” did not find the same Swift on this album. A critique I have of Swift is when she curses – which she only started doing frequently since 2020’s “folklore” – it feels like the first time she ever said that word, jarring me from the story she builds. “The Life of a Showgirl” is riddled with innuendo and vulgarity, notably in “Father Figure” and “Wood,” themes not commonly associated with Swift. While I appreciate her stepping outside her comfort zone (or, rather, my comfort zone), when you listen to an artist for over ten years, you come to expect certain things and are left disappointed when the music does not reach those dreams. I was particularly let down by the songs “Eldest Daughter” and “The Life of a Showgirl” as the lyrics were nowhere near Swift’s normal caliber. “Eldest Daughter” is a ‘track five,’ known for being Swift’s most heartwrenching, yet this track contains slangy lyrics like “But I’m not a bad bitch / And this isn’t savage.” It felt more like slam poetry than a cohesive, emotional song. Title track “The Life of a Showgirl” contains underwhelming rhymes such as “Her name was Kitty / Made her money being pretty and witty.” That’s not four-time Album of the Year writing to me.

As with every Swift album, fans began speculating on who each song was about as soon as the album dropped. “Ruin the Friendship” is particularly poignant after a few listens and pulls from Swift’s discography lore. She discusses the regret of not having pursued a partner when they were around, with fans theorizing the subject is the same as in “Forever Winter” from “Red (Taylor’s Version).” The twist in the story during the last chorus cements “Ruin the Friendship” as the emotional heart of “The Life of a Showgirl.”

Another topic of intense speculation is “Actually Romantic,” Swift’s clapback anthem of the album theorized to be about her former tour opener, Charli XCX. The opening lines “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave / High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me” paint a rather specific picture, alluding to Charli’s well-known party girl lifestyle as well as her relationship with George Daniel of The 1975, a band Swift’s ex Matty Healy is the frontman of. While Swift claimed the song is about a one-sided and adversarial relationship, debates swirl over whether Swift should be slamming another artist or if it is unbecoming for an artist of her status. With “Actually Romantic” coming after Charli XCX’s “Sympathy is a knife,” I believe Swift should not have to hold any punches. When Charli disses another artist, it’s “brat,” but Swift cannot do the same? On another note, the less-than-literal interpretation of “romantic” in this song makes it stand out on the otherwise literal “The Life of a Showgirl.” Claiming all attention is positive in some way, it is the classic wordplay listeners have come to expect of Swift.

Speaking of word play, the song “Honey” also discusses the multiple connotations a word can take, with Swift singing about how terms of endearment were said “passive aggressive / At the bar.” A clever approach, but I find it hard to believe a woman who released her first acclaimed album in high school spent much time getting sassed at a bar. Maybe I am just cynical after hearing the opening lines, “You can call me ‘honey’ if you want / Because I’m the one you want.” How many Albums of the Year was that again?

While I have no problem with silly rhymes or tongue-in-cheek lyrics, it is not what I look to Taylor Swift for. “The Life of a Showgirl” is not a bad album, it is just not at the level fans have come to expect of Swift. For once, the strongest part of the album is not Swift’s writing but rather the production of Martin and Shellback. If I heard only the instrumentals for this album, I would be satisfied. Swift depicts herself inheriting the tradition of  “showgirl” with this album so I understand she feels the need to keep producing hits. This album reads like one created on the whirlwind of a tour, though, and I think fans would be willing to wait longer for Swift’s next album if it led to a higher caliber of songs – after all, we have over 24 hours of music to listen to already.