by Aleena Khan

With the release of Taylor Swift’s beautifully crafted album, The Tortured Poets Department, there was a lot of love as well as hate. The Tortured Poets Department includes thirty-one beautifully written songs, some of which are collaborations. This album is in the same synth-pop genre as Swift’s last album Midnights. Unsurprisingly, The Tortured Poets Department was an immediate hit and many songs quickly gained traction on social media boosting the success of the album. 

Songs such as “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” and “The Black Dog” show Swift’s lyrical abilities and her poetic side. Many songs on the new album echo songs on her previous albums such as Speak Now and Red. The song “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” from TTPD and the song “Mine” on Speak Now share similar messages, and some people even think that “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” is a continuation of the story in “Mine”. Many of the songs on the new album are extremely catchy, and people find the songs to be stuck in their heads all day. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the album and the musical diversity between “poetic songs” and more straight-forward pop songs. The maturity exhibited in this album is far different from anything Swift has previously released, and I’m quickly finding this album to be one of my favorites.