This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Mia Aponte. Find her on Instagram at @mia.aponte. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Whether you love her or hate her, Taylor Swift is the music industry. She has truly shown within the last five years what it means to be a performer and “mastermind” when it comes to songwriting, owning her masters, and creating one of the world’s biggest stadium tours right now. Everything she touches turns to gold without a question. Now that we might know the pattern of her releasing new music and re-recordings (two re-recordings, one new album), everyone is talking about since the Grammys the announcement of her new album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” From who it’s about, the title name, the song track list, collaborations, every Swiftie is ready for April 19th, when the album is set to release.
So let’s unpack some Tortured Poets Department Predictions and guess what this album is going to tell us.
Immediately, the first thing I saw about this album was it’s going to be the complete opposite of Lover, her 7th studio album. That album featured a lighter and more upbeat tone compared to its predecessor “Reputation”. It explored themes of love, romance, and personal growth, with catchy melodies and heartfelt lyrics characterizing many of the tracks. With songs like “London Boy”, “Paper Rings”, “Lover” that it was all about her then boyfriend Joe Alwyn. At the time, my fans believed that he was the one, but clearly we were wrong.
It is speculated that the name of the album, “The Tortured Poets Department” came from the name of Swift’s now ex, Alwyn with Paul Mescal’s WhatsApp group chat called ‘The Tortured Mens Club’. So, a lot of fans already think that this album is going to spill all the tea on what happened with her and Alwyn.
Not to mention, the new album track list dropped and it completely goes against some of the Lover titles. For instance, “So Long, London”, “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”, “Fresh Out the Slammer”, and “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart”. This is clearly going to be a break-up album but possibly a rebirth of her finding herself again after the relationship. After all, it was six years of her life.
I definitely think her song on Midnights, “Your Losing Me” was a little snippet of what TTPD will be. The tone especially, about a person slowly fading away from a relationship will hopefully be a theme in this upcoming album. Another theme that I think will be prominent in this album, is the idea of moving on and expecting that life isn’t a picture perfect fairy tale and not everything is what it seems. From her progression of previous albums you see these notions compare and contrast overtime. But I think clearly in this album, we will see her accept and grow from this heartbreak and accept the circumstances and move on and pick herself up and grow from this time. Like she said, this album she has been working on the past two years, a lot of change and growth for her has happened and this album will be a lense on this time of her life that we as fans may have not seen since they’re relationship was so private.
In terms of sound, I hope Swift combines the sounds of her albums, “Reputation” and “Folklore.” “Reputation” showcased a darker, edgier sound compared to Swift’s earlier albums. Influenced by electropop, synth-pop, and hip-hop, the album featured heavy beats, electronic production, and a more aggressive tone. While “Folklore” leaned heavily into indie folk and alternative genres. The album was characterized by its stripped-down instrumentation, atmospheric production, and introspective lyrics. I believe this will be a combination of these two with high catchy songs with a pop aspect, but a bit more grittier with slow paced thought provoking lyrics.
Overall, I’m really excited for this upcoming album and how Swift will change and alter her sound and lyrics. I cannot wait to hear what she comes up with, because we all know… it’s definitely going to be gold.
So what are your Tortured Poets Department predictions? Let us know in the comments down below!
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