Swifties, who would like to join me in the countdown to Life of a Showgirl?

[Everlore]

I woke up this morning to a slew of messages from excited Swiftie friends telling me about the new album, I hadn't dared to hope it would be here so soon and now I am ridiculously excited and have my vinyl copy pre-ordered already!
My husband, also a Swiftie, had warned me not to get my hopes up ahead of the release of TTPD last year as he couldn't see how it could possibly live up to her previous albums, fortunately he was completely wrong and I consider it to be among her finest work, one of the best albums I've ever heard! I therefore have no reservations about getting excited about the new album. It will also be the first album since our baby was born, though I THINK she's more of a folklore and evermore girl so she may not be quite as enthused by the possibility of more Max Martin and Shellback collaborations as we are.
Even though we won't be getting Reputation TV now, I hope the vault tracks still see the light of day, when you consider the quality of the 1989 vault tracks just imagine what the Reputations ones must be like! I have high hopes that this new album might have been inspired from work that had already begun on Reputation TV.
Anyway, just wanted to come on here and share my excitement with other Swifties. What are you hoping or expecting from TS12?

My people! Found ya!

Listened to it three times all the way through today on commute to and from work.

No surprises on her themes (My Boyfriend Is The Best / Fuck All The Traitors and Haters! etc) but liking it a lot so far.

Fate of Ophelia is my favourite so far. Fathers Figure stands out too.

Ill be back later to read all your thoughts!

Glitch is wish list

i definitely heard call it what you want on one song, but I now can’t remember which 😂

Wood has the Jackson 5

and I’ve seen another compared to a jonas brothers song, but I don’t know their stuff well enough

That was the other I noticed. Not sure I know the last two you mentioned but yeah, deffo clues for something!

Listened 3 times now and am really enjoying it, I enjoyed TTPD but it was a LOT so never really embraced it like this.

Loving actually romantic and wood has grown on me (snigger) a lot.
Definitely not the showgirl or bangers album I expected though.

I dont want to assume she's heading down the baby route but I'm really looking forward to her songs from motherhood, we"re the same age but I'm definitely past the obsessed with my husband era 😆

Took a couple of listens but I love it. I don’t think it’s meant to be deep. TTPD was a lot and I saw another review say it was ‘bloated’ which I somewhat agree with. She clearly had a lot to get off her chest with that one.

This one I don’t think she gives a fuck. She’s clearly happy, in love and this one has resulted in an engagement (at last), and made it on days off on the Eras tour so it wasn’t going to be as in depth as many maybe thinks it should be.
Playing CANCELLED! the most so far.

I have had a very full on day

So I've listened to it once

I really like it. I was waiting for a pop album. And here it is, but it's like mellow pop.

On first lesson, I really liked all of it except I'm not sure about Elizabeth Taylor and eldest daughter but I also haven't had a chance to sit down with lyrics yet. On first listen, Elizabeth Taylor - I'm not clear what it's about.

But when TTPD first came out, I was a bit disappointed so it may be that those two all growers

I thought Fate of Ophelia was fantastic but for some reason it makes me think of the human league?

I thought Actually Romantic was really good and Opalite. Also really enjoyed Father Figure. Oh, and cancelled.Basically, I love it. 🫶🏾

I've already seen some criticism online about how it doesn't fit with a showgirl theme but I don't put too much store into marketing

I find it extraordinary that she wrote that on tour. I'm not sure that she did really. She has said in documentaries that she plans several years in advance. So I wonder if the musical outlines were already there in her head

I think she's a bit like Prince isn't she. Didn't they find about 500 vault tracks that he had in draft so to speak?

I haven't had a chance to catch up with any interviews or anything.

Just got back from the cinema after watching The Life of A Showgirl release party. So far, there are some catchy songs on their, I think my favourites so far are Life of a Showgirl, Eldest Daughter and Wish List.

I don't think you could top TTPD though, that album is incredible. And I will always adore Fearless, Debut, Red and Speak Now because those were the albums when I was a hard core Swiftie and went to see her in concert, so I don't think it will top that.

I know she is happy and in love and The Life of a Showgirl reflects that, but sometimes I just want a good tear jerker, heartbreak, make me sob over the boy that broke my 15 year old heart song like LOML 🤣

What did the cinema release entail? Was it just the songs? I’m dying for a documentary!

@QuickNameChange22 oh I would love to hear all about it, please

I have to work out whether it's worth trying to go tomorrow in what will probably be horrible weather. I suspect it's not but I could really do without trekking about tomorrow! So please don't tell me it's a really good experience 😂

I'll be honest it wasn't quite what I was expecting so I was a little disappointed. She did her intro, then we saw the video for The Fate of Ophelia, then it was basically her introducing each song, giving some context about what the song was about, the inspiration, then the song playing, interspersed with snippets of behind the scenes of the new music video showing how it's made.

It was fascinating watching them film the video, seeing the work that goes into it and how Taylor's ideas are formed and come to life, but I was expecting there to be more footage of the actual songwriting process for the new album. I'm not sure why, I just thought that's what it would be and thought that would have been really interesting to watch. I've loved seeing old video footage of her writing some of my favourite songs and how the lyrics adapted during the process so was a bit gutted this wasn't that.

@QuickNameChange22 thank you

From the description, I thought it sounded rather underwhelming. I was just wondering if I'd be more to it when you got there, but it sounds like not. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the evening out regardless.

my CDs are arriving tomorrow. We've got a parcel thief in the building so I'm going to have to stay home. Well, I think they're arriving tomorrow, I've just had an email from DPD saying "delivery soon".

She’s gone abit heavy on the Botox on Graham Norton. I’ve never noticed before.

Was just thinking the same, her face is barely moving. She looks really plastic which is so sad , shes so beautiful and talented, she doesn’t need it 😭

Also just back from the film. I think the album is a lot more cohesive now that I've seen the music video and heard her descriptions of the songs. There was a lot of giggling in the audience and a really nice atmosphere.

I have just got back from the film. I am an unabashed devotee and I enjoyed it so much I could have cried. I adore the whole album - it is tight and neat and reminds me of 1989 which, together with Folklore, is my favourite Taylor album.

Any love for Wood out there?? The disco vibe is pure, pure joy for me.

Didn't love the dick for check and thighs for skies swaps though!

Oh my gosh I did not know about this thread! Huge 40 year old Swiftie, went to the Eras tour- have preordered The Crowd Is Your King version of the album. I went to the show tonight at the cinema (alone!), sadly it was sparsely attended, probably because they had it running in three screens at once but most of us were in Eras Tour/Swiftie merch. I do think with hindsight I could probably have swerved it.

I really like the album, it wasn’t the big bombastic pop-y 1989 2.0 I was kinda hoping for but I like the more mature hook-y songs. I do think the way a lot of the reviews have focused on her age and the way she sings about sex is more than a little bit sexist/ageist.

@Karmaisagod "Wood" made me laugh and I'm sure it made her laugh as well

And it's a great tune

Thanks for the reports on the cinema that's really useful

Are all these vinyl versions coming with extra merch?

Never bought anything from the site before this so not really sure what to expect

As well as missing out on the book, I missed the TTPD which I gather was pretty good and well made.

I love how in the little explanations she gives for each song on Amazon Music, she talks about Wood and ends her description with “That is the way I’ve decided to explore this very, very sentimental love song.”

I am not a Swiftie but watched her tour on TV & decided I was fan, I also liked a lot of her songs that have come out in the last few yrs. I have listened to a few songs, like the 70s feel. Really like the Ophelia song. Would love to see her in concert.

She looks very plumped on Graham Norton though.

OMG I did not catch that but it’s so obvious!!

saw a post on instagram where someone says TLOAS sounds the way Midnights looks and that’s pretty spot on

Missing word there - I didn't get the TTPD paperweight! With the typewriter inside it. Oh wait, I mean snow globe - anyway that sold out in seconds.

@AngeloMysterioso I must not be paying enough attention to the aesthetic. I will have a look at the website tomorrow.

I’ve only done my first listen (at 6am yesterday, with my headphones on in bed in the dark!) and when Wood started I liked it - the Jackson 5 beat, the superstitions - then it turned into …well, let’s just say I did not need a whole song about Travis Kelce’s dick.

I’ve got cinema tickets for this afternoon so I don’t want to listen again until I see the film. Mainly because I was disappointed in it (I’m one of the fans who is drawn to the poetry and lyricism and TLOAS isn’t hitting those depths for me) and I’m worried that if I listen again and still find it bland, I won’t go to the showing.

@SoScarletItWas yes, she does this. Reputation was full of "Joe Alwyn is the shag of a lifetime" references. Let us know what you think of her intro to Wood after you watch the film.

I hope you enjoy it - I also went on one listen only, but that was mainly because I wanted to keep it fresh.

@YouForgotToTurnItOff I thought Father Figure could also be, a little less obviously, about Olivia Rodrigo. As a huge George Michael fan, I loved the intro to that one in the film.

@EmeraldRoulette and @ShesTheAlbatross 😄😄😄 Can't scroll back enough to see if you've watched the film, but she does something similarly deadpan there, too.

By making pop with almost no contemporary references, Ms. Swift is aiming somewhere even higher, a mode of timelessness that few true pop stars — aside from, say, Adele, who has a vocal gift that demands such an approach — even bother aspiring to.

Thinking of this quote from a review of 1989 when it came out.....

I've seen people saying, and I have to agree, that Travis doesn't seem to be a great muse. She wrote Enchanted about someone she met once. She has been with Travis for 2 years and is now engaged and the best Travis gets Wood and Wish List. The most romantic song on this album is about her childhood sweetheart who died. You listen to Rep that was released within a similar timeline of Taylors relationship with Joe and she sounds giddy in love, you find yourself thinking what a catch Joe is, there's a reason people understood why she couldn't go back and record it. Even Dress I'm like "yeah, get it girl 🫦" compared to Wood where I want to firmly cross my legs. Perhaps I'm a Travis hater as he just comes off as a loud American.