Taylor Swift- ‘Lover’

Hot off the press, Taylor Swift’s seventh anticipated album titled Lover unleashes a new colorful era of Swifty. And I am here for it!

One of my favorite aspects of a new Taylor Swift release is the unanticipated and subtle announcement of a new album. Taylor first teased Lover (then untitled) on social media with a subtle but colorful photo supporting her beau, Joe Alwyn at the BAFTA awards. This wasn’t a major Easter egg for fans but looking back, it began the new “color era” of her now released seventh album.

*Easter Egg: In media, an Easter egg is an intentional inside joke, hidden message or image, or secret feature of a work.

If you’ve been following Taylor Swift from the beginning or since her past few albums, you’ll know that each represents a new “era” or theme Taylor embodies both in her music and on tour. Her predecessor album Reputation represented the recent backlash and heartbreak she had endured beginning in 2016. Reputation is her darkest era yet with its consistent theme of snakes, dark colors and flashing newspaper headlines representing the media’s intrusive interest in her personal life.

With the new release of Lover, this colorful era appears to represent a new and improved Taylor in comparison to her previous album. Swift exchanges snakes for butterflies which as we know, is a symbol of growth and rebirth. Through Reputation we learn that the old Taylor is deceived, heartbroken and distrusting as heard in her song Call It What You Want– “My castle crumbled overnight-they took the crown but its alright.” Artwork, music videos and various performances display a resurrected Taylor as she looks back on these broken times and decides to make amends with her past. She patches her friendship with ex-friend Katy Perry, establishes new friendships and discovers a new found happiness.

In her newest single You Need To Calm Down, we learn that, “We all know now we all got crowns.” Looks like Taylor has regained her crown and is sharing the glory with her newest friends.

Diving into Lover, I finally had the opportunity to listen to the album track by track. The album was a near perfect embodiment of sugar, spice and everything nice. Lover is a much different in tone in comparison to Reputation. It was quite simply an album that was meant for Taylor and well, her lover. As much as I enjoy a good Taylor Swift revenge song, I couldn’t help but enjoy the variety of arrangements presented in Lover, each song felt like a piece of a collage. Some of these songs felt like the audience is looking from the outside in. Thats the beauty of music right? While most albums are often a collage of emotions and events that inspires each track, Lover is one of the most unique of Taylor’s now seven album discography. The collective 18 tracks represent a personal look into Taylor’s new found love that has blossomed since her “Delicate” Reputation days.

The first track of the Lover is titled I Forgot That You Existed. This couldn’t be a more fitting introduction to the new era as it represents the letting go of a past that nearly consumed Taylor’s belief in love and a new beginning. I Forgot That You Existed represents the end of the Reputation era and that Taylor is done with old haunts. This can be compared to Swift’s Reputation track, Look What You Made Me Do, a song that symbolizes that actions have consequences and Taylor is no longer playing nice. As we know in this new album, there is a dramatic shift in tone. The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now, why? Because she’s in love!

Of course with an album title like Lover, Taylor has now moved on from the vulnerable and daunting idea of falling on love as heard in Delicate, a song from her previous album. Lyrically, Taylor dances around the idea of romance given her damaged reputation as a serial dater. In Lover, each song is a dedication to her long time boyfriend and possible fiancé, Joe Alwyn. (Yes, possible fiancé) Taylor rings what sound like wedding bells in her title track Lover gushing, “With every guitar string scar on my hand I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover.” As mentioned earlier, each track appears to represent a period in time in Swift’s now three year relationship with Alwyn; the good, the vulnerable, and everything in between. The paired music video was filled with all kinds of symbolism including the intrusiveness the media can often portray her past and even present relationships. (This being represented through the fishbowl scene in her music video Lover.

A writer myself, I find it’s often easier to write how you feel as opposed to facing your sometimes overwhelming emotions. The entire album is essentially everything Taylor has wanted to say to Joe but couldn’t. Sometimes the little things we love about a person can be quite a daunting thing to admit. Lover is an 18 track love letter that doesn’t have a particular sound but rather a complication of various ballads and melodies. Taylor has been working on creating new sounds since the introduction of her 1989 album. Swift truly displays all genres of music in this one album from ballads in Soon You’ll Get Better, 80s pop beats in Afterglow and The Man, and of course a romantic ballad for The Archer and Lover.

Since its release I’ve been asked what my favorite tracks are and so far I have come to the conclusion that the title track is by far the most impressive. It’s raw, truthful and romantic. I’ve been a Taylor Swift fan for a few years now and to watch one of my favorite artists grow is one of the most amazing experiences. It’s amazing to see someone who once struggled within internal acceptance, now be in a positive place in her life. London Boy is another fun track that further displays Taylor’s affectionate love for her lifeline partner. Having studied and lived in North London I loved the references to Highgate, Camden Market and rugby games. It’s the first album I feel like Taylor was able to just release her inner creativity, joy and pure happiness.

Lover is one of the sweetest albums I’ve heard and I can’t wait to see what her journey holds in the future. I think this album was less about for the fans and more of a personal voyage of discovering internal happiness and a whirlwind of romance. If you haven’t listened to Lover yet, venture over to your nearest Target, iTunes or Spotify app and embark on the most romantic journey your eyes have ever heard.