Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department reviewed – and best place to hear it

The second track from the album, bearing the title song The Tortured Poets Department, has her beautifully expressing about an intense love that makes her feel suicidal. She also sings: “I scratch your head, you fall asleep / Like a tattooed golden retriever,” speculated to be about Matty Healy. The song carries a nostalgic vibe, resembling The 1975’s style.

The soulful track My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys is akin to Reputation or Midnights with rhythmic beats and metaphorical lyrics. Heartfelt lines like: “Cause he took me out of my box / Stole my tortured heart / Left all these broken parts / Told me I’m better off / But I’m not,” can be heard in the bridge.

A rumoured reference to the artist’s post-break-up depression with Joe Alwyn is found in the fourth track Down Bad. Here she strikingly expresses: “F*ck it if I can’t have him. I might just die, it would make no difference.”

The song offers a unique combination of cheerfulness and melancholy, hinting at tones of her 2020 album Evermore.

Perhaps my top pick after an initial listen, So Long, London, sees Taylor unravel the collapse of a relationship, speculated to be about Joe Alwyn. Her lyrics: “I left all I knew, you left me at the house by the Heath,” pertain to their shared home in Hampstead Heath, London.

The next tune, But Daddy I Love Him, features Taylor crooning about a taboo romance with a “wild boy”. It’s got that Folklore vibe with a grown-up Fearless twist.

Rumour has it, it’s all about Matty Healy, and fans are buzzing, convinced the track tackles the flak Taylor copped for her fling with the British rockstar.

Echoing the vibes of Bejeweled from Midnights, Fresh Out The Slammer seems to be all about Taylor knowing just who she fancies for a rebound after breaking free from her past love, which she slams as a prison stint throughout the bop after she “did her time”.

Then there’s Florida!!!, rumoured to nod to the Tampa, Florida gigs of the Eras Tour – Taylor’s first post-breakup with long-term beau Joe Alwyn. This banger sees Taylor team up with Florence + The Machine, belting out “I’ve got some regrets, I’ll bury them in Florida.”

In Guilty as Sin?, Taylor’s questioning her muse, pondering if tears are allowed, with the track said to be about Matty Healy and the media storm over their brief summer romance post-Joe split. To my ears, it screams Red, with a hint of Speak Now but clearly more grown-up and steamy.

Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me? sees Taylor sing about her reputation, which to me, confirms that rep will definitely be the next re-recording. This song is incredibly confrontational where Taylor touches on how she has always been judged for her professional and personal life.

The song reminds me of Mad Woman from Folklore, with the screaming in the chorus similar to the screams in All You Had To Do Was Stay from 1989.

I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can), sees Taylor singing about her attempts to fix her lover who she sees as “dangerous”. In the song, she pleads and begs, affirming that she is the “only one” who can fix him.

loml was originally thought to be about the “love” of Taylor’s life, with it soon revealed that it was actually about the “loss” of her life, with the song incredibly sombre and moody. Rumoured to be penned with Joe Alwyn in mind, Taylor croons about marriage: “You and I go from one kiss to getting married.”

In the track I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, Taylor sings about continuing to smile through the pain of a breakup and how she’s “so depressed” but continues to put on a show and ensure she’s “productive”. The song is incredibly upbeat and almost sarcastic – you can definitely hear the sarcasm as Taylor shouts how “miserable” she is, seemingly happy that “no one even knows”.

Another track, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, is believed to be about Matty Healy, with Taylor crooning about her muse who dons a suit and “ghosted her”. Meanwhile, The Alchemy sees Taylor serenade about a golden love while dropping hints of “touchdowns”, speculated to be about her current beau Travis Kelce.

Clara Bow appears to pay tribute to the silent film star Clara Bow, who battled mental health issues triggered by the stress of her fame and a “turbulent love life”. This tune is whimsical and incredibly dreamy, with a romantic undertone that harks back to her Fearless album.

However, it’s important to note that while Taylor does pen songs about her exes, and many tracks on her new album reflect on her past relationships with the likes of Joe and Matty, her work shouldn’t be boiled down to who she is or has been dating.

In summary, The Tortured Poets Department is an extraordinary body of work that showcases Taylor’s fusion of poetry and music. The album is profoundly deep and moving, complex to decipher yet easy to immerse in and relate to one’s own life.

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