4/5
Poetic Justice.
After midnight, Taylor Swift is in her new era. Taking a version of what she announced at the Grammy Awards before her tour stop in Tokyo to 'Anthology' levels. 'TTPD' is the perfect touchdown, mere months after Swift's beau Travis Kelce embraced her on the field after winning an epic Super Bowl with his Kansas City Chiefs. After the 'Evermore' 'Folklore' of the country/pop singer's Bon Iver like foray into the woods (with a Justin Vernon duet to match), Taylor Swift burnt the oil of a thousand 'Midnights' for her last album two years back (can you believe it?). But now a week after Maggie Rogers releases her latest album after a hard to fathom pair of calendars, don't forget about Tay. Because like a few hours after the midnight of her signature 'Style', Taylor has given us 'The Anthology' double-album of her latest classic 'The Tortured Poet's Department', saying hey to exes like Joe, or ones from 1975. Another version, like Taylor's master power move in re-recording her own records for the ownership, that shows she is the new great American songbook, page-by-page. Given to you seemingly week-by-week with the 'Fortnight' single and reputation video featuring Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles and an all singing Post Malone who shows that just like Beyoncé, he can fit in this genre like 'Levi Jeans' as stocks soar. Put this poet next to 'Cowboy Carter' and the new 'Visions' of legend Norah Jones for this year's best, regardless of gender. Like 'Deadpool & Wolverine', Blake Lively's bestie Swiftie is set to dazzle you. Especially the ex-men. Now the poets, like Dylan, have all put down their pens.
Torture motherf#####, like the Wu-Tang Clan. I'll f#####g, I'll f#####g see your Spotify streams up and keeping feeding you wonderful written songs with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner like a Disney documentary cabin in the woods. In black and white and her own embrace for the perfect portrait of album work for this new Republic, this record is all you need to make the music to your Friday feeling new. Featuring formidable collaborations with Florence + The Machine ('Florida!!!' with all the exclamation points), like the time Welch went Gaga with Lady for 'Hey Girl', and a shout-out to Charlie Puth on the titanic title track, you're glad to see Swift again, so soon. This synth-pop, self-conscious, "lifeline" of introspection is a map of the soul, but also one that puts even the most famous cities on the map, like welcoming you back to New York. 'So Long, London'...we've been waiting for you for too long. "And so I enter into evidence / My tarnished coat of arms / My muses, acquired like bruises / My talismans and charms / The tick, tick, tick of love bombs / My veins of pitch black ink / All's fair in love and poetry," Swift says as she takes her new stand in this department of justice, 'Fresh Out The Slammer'. The only question is, is this 'TTPD' and the picture-perfect logo for your next company letterhead a dig at ex Alwyn's group chat name with 'Ripley' and "Sexy Priest" Andrew Scott and 'Aftersun' actor of the moment Paul Mescal who both star alongside each other in 'All Of Us Strangers', out this weekend in Japan?
The answer is...who gives a f###?! None of this is our business, but the great music is, as Taylor drops barbs in the titles. From 'My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys' and 'But Daddy I Love Him', to 'I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)' and 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived' (ouch...in more ways than one). Or hidden meanings, like 'thanK you aIMee" to that high-school bully who really shan't remain nameless or the lyrical exercise of the legendary 'Clara Bow' beginning with the beautiful belle bow of, "beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours/Demanding more" (you got it!). Getting down on 'Down Bad' Taylor poses some questions like, 'Whose Afraid Of Little Old Me', wondering in this self-reflection, like one of your own, whether she's 'Guilty As Sin?' Following a 'Loml' that is anything but a LMFAO, Swift attests that she can 'Do It With A Broken Heart' and, "I can hold my breath/I've been doin' it since he left/I keep finding his things in drawers/Crucial evidence I didn't imagine the whole thing/I'm sure I can pass this test." Compelling and concerning like, "I'm so depressed, I act like it's my birthday every day/I'm so obsessed with him, but he avoids me like the plague/I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it's an art/You know you're good when you can even do it with a broken heart," in post chorus for this big like Malone. Karl, Moses or Austin.
'Chloe Or Sam Or Sophia Or Marcus'. 'Cassnadra'. 'Peter'. 'Robin'. There are outstanding odes here on a first name basis here, like 'Jolene'. You know, the one that took your man like Dolly Parton sang and Beyoncé refused in perfect tribute in this age of making 'Lemonade'. There are also new titles for this generation, like 'The Black Dog' of Led Zeppelin, or 'The Albatross' of Fleetwood Mac. Not to mention 'The Bolter', 'The Prophecy', or 'The Manuscript' of this movie making songbook that is anything but scripted from 'The Alchemy' of this alchemist like a super producer. As 'The Anthology' dives deeper, we see even more shades of Swift in subtle and not so strokes. Now you might think, especially in this modern age where we try to destroy each other like the Donald not being able to trump the political heft one Taylor made tweet produced, that 'I Hate It Here', or that this is all 'So High School'. But look deeper into 'People's Windows' like the loneliness of Leonardo DiCaprio's aviator surrounded by Pan Am hostesses in 'Catch Me If You Can' and you might be able to grab a hold of that warm Christmas family life by the eve of the fire that you've been checking twice on wish list for since you were a child. On this 31-track magnum you may wonder 'How Did It End' like, "We hereby conduct/This post-mortem/He was a hot house flower to my outdoorsmen/Our maladies were such/We could not cure them/And so a touch that was my birth right became foreign," or an Apple Music word hunt. But like Shania getting you good, 'imgonnagetyouback' with Prince punctuation for this soulchild of Musiq offers hope amongst all the petty pretensions...that comes from those stunted suggestions in reaction to this revelatory work of beautiful break-up ballads and comedy and tragedy balance. But is that hope to heal or to hurt? For better or worse, you be the judge. The jury is out. Call up the department, with this anthology, torture has never felt so good. The dopest poets society. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Fortnight (Feat. Post Malone)', 'So Long, London', 'Peter'.
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