The China Mail - Taylor Swift strides into 'Showgirl' era with new joyful album

On Friday, she dropped her 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," a collection of bouncy pop songs about love, marriage, success -- and score-settling -- that had fans analyzing and debating every word.

The 35-year-old artist reunited with Swedish hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback for the tight 12-track collection, and their influence is clear in the driving beats and catchy hooks.

"I can't tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right," Swift posted on Instagram, along with photos of her in showgirl outfits.

Elated fans worldwide snapped up tickets to special "release party" screenings in movie theaters -- including the premiere of the video for lead single "The Fate of Ophelia."

In Melbourne, Swifties -- many dressed in orange, the artist's signature color for the album -- were among the first to dance and sing to "Showgirl."

While the album still features plenty of introspection, it reveals a lighter, happier Swift -- in love with her NFL Super Bowl champion fiance Travis Kelce, happy to have bought back her music catalog and proud of her record-shattering Eras Tour.

"I just want you, have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you... Got me dreaming about a driveway with a basketball hoop," she sings on the dreamy "Wish List."

And on "The Fate of Ophelia," referring to the tragic character in Shakespeare's "Hamlet," she says: "Late one night, you took me out of my grieving / Saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia."

"I used to have this dark fear that if I ever were truly, like, happy and... nurtured by a relationship -- what happens if the writing just dries up? What happens if writing is directly tied to my torment and pain?" Swift said in an interview with BBC Radio 1.

"And it turns out that's not the case at all."

- 'Only as hot as your last hit' -

"Showgirl" is the most pre-saved album ever on the Spotify streaming platform, breaking the record set last year by Swift's previous album, "The Tortured Poets Department."

It represents a departure from the folksy pandemic-era "Folklore" and "Evermore" in 2020, the pensive "Midnights" in 2022 and the introspective "Tortured Poets" last year.

Swift said ahead of the release that the new album "comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life."

Some of that drama comes through on "Elizabeth Taylor," on which she sings: "You're only as hot as your last hit, baby."

Then she seems to go for the jugular on "Father Figure," an interpolation of late pop crooner George Michael's hit of the same name that his estate said it had "no hesitation" in greenlighting.

The figure in question could be Scooter Braun, the music industry heavyweight whose company bought her previous label, which gave him a majority stake in the master recordings of her first six albums.

"My dear boy, they don't make loyalty like they used to," she sings.

"You want a fight, you found it / I've got the place surrounded / You'll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you're drowning."

Fans are also musing that "Actually Romantic" is a diss track referring to a rumored feud with pop singer Charli XCX.

And some have expressed surprise at the somewhat raunchy lyrics and double entendres in "Wood," about her relationship with Kelce.

"Showgirl" is available on streaming platforms. Special editions will be sold by retail giant Target, including the "Portofino orange glitter vinyl" or the "summertime spritz pink shimmer vinyl."

Aside from the "Ophelia" video, the weekend screenings will also feature behind-the-scenes footage and lyric videos.

The one-off cinematic event is estimated to gross $30-50 million, according to film industry website Deadline.

"And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe," she sings in the title track featuring pop princess Sabrina Carpenter, who opened for Swift at some Eras Tour stops.

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

Q.Moore--ThChM