When Taylor Swift announced her 12th album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” it practically broke the internet. After her 21-month-long record-breaking “The Eras Tour” ended, many fans were wondering what would come next for Swift. As whispers of a new album floated to the surface, Swift revealed “The Life of a Showgirl” via her fiancé Travis and brother Jason Kelce’s podcast “New Heights” on Aug. 13, 2025.”
Like most things Swift does, the release of this album has brought a lot of opinions among fans and non-fans. “I have not listened to the new Taylor Swift album because I don’t want to,” UO student Lara Clute said. “When she got super big and started making her own Taylor’s versions, I kind of started having a more negative connotation towards her.”
For this album, Swift worked with Max Martin and Shellback, producers whom she worked with on her previous albums “Red,” “1989” and “reputation.” Since those albums, Swift has worked very closely with producer Jack Antanoff; with the transition back to Martin and Shellback, many expected this album to have similar energy to her earlier releases.
“The Life of a Showgirl” begins with the pop-centric song, “The Fate of Ophelia.” This track sets the tone for the rest of the album nicely, and is a pop ballad similar to the songs on “1989.” As Swift has been releasing more and more music, her discography is beginning to sound very similar and raise conversations about quality over quantity.
This album is nothing new and revolutionary compared to previous work from Swift. “In most ways, it is a predictable continuation of her catalog: There’s personal memoir with a veneer of poetic license, a pretty obvious diss track, an extended meditation on memories from high school, a touch of Shakespearean drama and a singular focus on romantic love and a happily-ever-after that’s happily ever closer,” Anna Gaca, senior editor at Pitchfork.
With that being said, Swift still has an influence on millions of people and fans. As one of the most successful female artists, she is a big inspiration to many listeners of her music. “I feel like she is one of the best artists of our generation,” Teagan Brown, an advertising major from Newport Beach, California, said. “I can see why people think otherwise, but she’s fun. I don’t see anything wrong with her; I love her.”
The track “CANCELLED!” has gained traction for its “millennial” lyrics such as “did you girlboss too close to the sun,” and “I like ‘em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal.” This is a theme throughout the whole record. Lyrics feel unrelatable to a large audience of her listeners, and it creates a generational gap between Swift and her fans.
“In a time and a place where there are some pretty awful people out there not getting repercussions for the terrible things they do out in the open, this is a very strange song to release. It’s very out of touch and tone deaf,” Anthony Fantano, music reviewer and writer for The Needle Drop said.
The title track, “The Life of a Showgirl,” featuring Sabrina Carpenter, feels like older music Swift has put out, with a more storytelling style of songwriting. Carpenter is a large redeeming quality of this song and is a nice way to end this album. There is no doubt that Swift is not done yet. Following the release of this album, she shared “The Fate of Ophelia” music video, choreographed by Mandy Moore, which has a very high production quality and does a nice job of painting the vibe for this album. “The Life of a Showgirl” certainly won’t be the last time we hear from Swift; she always has something else in store.
