Before you read the headline and roll your eyes, clicking on due ot morbid curiosity, consider this is being written by the same guy who also reviews Sanguisugabogg and hundreds of black metal bands you have never heard of. This is not a sales pitch to recruit you into my Swiftie cult; Taylor Swift needs no one to market her anymore. It’s unlikely there is going to be much objective commentary Metal/Goth/Punk side of the fence that is devoid of contempt before investigation regarding a Pop phenomena too big to be ignored. With that out of the way, I can speak now about this album that fearless fans are buying without the benefit of a lead single and solely on Swift’s reputation.
It was the first line of the song “Eldest Daughter” from Taylor Swift’s new album,” The Life of a Showgirl,” that told me I had to write this “review” for Ghost Cult
“Everybody’s so punk on the internet.”
She then unloads a social commentary that goes just as hard lyrically as anything from the new Deadguy album. I had to go back and listen to it a second time after my first pass through the song. Most of the more biting takes she dishes out on this album are subtly veiled in sardonic metaphors, not unlike Morrissey’s early solo work. The key to what is driving the lyrical content of this album is the fact that she is big enough to not give and fuck and can say what she wants without having to answer to anyone, which I appreciate. Being an artist who learned the ropes of songwriting as a child in Nashville, we have watched her awkwardly grow up in the spotlight, but now she finds herself in the middle of the entertainment machine and is unsure how comfortable she feels in it, which can be heard as she takes inventory of it, “Wi$h Li$t”.
Granted, she does this while explaining her very media hyped relationship with a great American sports baller. Who, according to some internet sleuths, is serving as her beard, if we are to believe the “Gaylor” conspiracy theory, which is easier to swallow than the earth being flat, since a gay Taylor would not be as welcomed with open arms to tour certain countries or sell merch to kids in Nebraska. But those are not the only allegations she flirts with on this album, as the Christian TikTok has been building a pyre to burn her at for being a witch. She baits them on “Father Figure” by singing about making deals with the devil, because her dick is bigger. A line that is a double-edged sword, as it feeds the Gaylor cult, preparing their rainbow cross to hang her upon as I type this.
Though this song is her middle finger to the recording industry, she took her power back by re-recording the albums she did not own full publishing rights to, Ian McKaye would approve. The idiots of the inner webs were quick to turn on Swift, after gleaming from teasers, this was just an album about a Billionaire complaining about the hard life of a billionaire, which is not the case; she is pretty unrepentant, and it’s more of a case of don’t hate the player, hate the game.
There are some hot take perspectives I was not anticipating, like the song “CANCELLED!” which she admits to having an underworld where it gets quite dark, and liking her friends cooked in scandal. Then explains the key is that if you can’t be good, then be better at it. Perhaps she was replaced by a Reptillain, as back on the song “‘Look What You Made Me Do” released in 2017, she says that “ the old Taylor can’t come to the phone because she is dead”, this could be similar to the Paul McCartney death hoax. Though I am also open to the idea that she started referring to karma more in her songs due to the fact that she is an energy entity in a wheel being channeled into various avatars. Something similar might happen to Erik of Watain at the other end of the spectrum after they release their final album in three years, and an odd ritualistic time frame, and rather optimistic of him to think the world has three more years
So what about the music, you ask? If you are going to listen to Pop music in 2025, this is the best that there is. There are viable options, but none have mastered the magic of Ethel Cain, Pixel Grip, Patriarchy, and Snow Strippers, the hook in this manner, nor are they as lyrically complex. Though Ethel Cain’s latest finds its own lane with more of a post-shoegaze vibe, the others are marketing themselves to kids in the clubs, doing drugs. I think artists in most genres should be taking notes here. While vocally, Swift does not come close to Kate Bush in terms of vocal range, power, and experimentation, she works with what she has and knows what is most effective for her voice and where to put the notes she does choose.
Here lies the lesson: all too often, when reviewing albums, be it dark wave or grindcore, my complaint is that too many bands are focused on capturing a sound and not writing a song. With the right gear and producer, anyone can dial a sound in; not everyone can write a song. When it comes to songwriting, being intentional with vocals weighs heavily. It doesn’t matter if you are haunting a graveyard with a soaring falsetto like King Diamond or growling like David Vincent; to be effective, you have to have direction and tell your story. Taylor Swift’s approach is more passive-aggressive than the bulk of what we cover here, but she is not filling stadiums with devoted fans taking out loans to afford tickets without being able to deliver the goods. This time, she has packed them up with lyrics dripping with poison you won’t taste til the third pass through. That is how you do pop music in 2025.
Buy the album here:
https://amzn.to/3IVsnii
WIL CIFER
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