'Gorgeous' Doubles Down on Taylor Swift's New Attitude
The album that followed largely stayed in that shiny, straightforward mode. She was open-hearted yet unflappable, whether brushing off criticism (“Shake It Off”),
lightly dressing the wounds of breakups (“All You Had to Do Was Stay”), or memorializing the thrill of a new relationship (“Out of the Woods”). Slabs of synth and driving, steady beats cast a movie-trailer glow of enchantment. Reviewers noted that this mode actually broke from recent pop trends, spurning the influence of hip-hop and R&B, as well as some of the grim moodiness creeping onto the charts. The video for “Shake It Off” even poked fun at the idea that Swift might start imitating Nicki Minaj like some of her contemporaries.
Two songs didn’t quite fit that pattern, though. One was “Blank Space,” a masterwork of hip-hop-adjacent sarcasm. The legendary pop producers Max Martin and Shellback threaded together a high, whistling harmony and kick-drum/snare pattern over which Swift sneered rapid clusters of syllables about being a man-eater. “Bad Blood,” too, waged war in what sounded like a personal feud over modern jock-jam thump. It got an extra layer of syncopation for the Kendrick Lamar remix that, like “Blank Space,” enjoyed a run at No. 1 on the Hot 100.
The rumors about the recording sessions for Swift’s forthcoming album Reputation were that they’d see her, finally, diving into hip-hop and R&B. Those reports drew immediate skepticism, as it was hard to imagine how such a change might work for Swift without her seeming ridiculous. But it now appears the rumors were true, though the question of ridiculousness hasn’t quite gone away. Where 1989 was sleek and stiff and retro, Reputation’s songs so far have been busier, choppier, and decidedly modern—which is to say, rap-influenced. They also, perhaps not coincidentally, spotlight a persona that’s the opposite of the one in “Welcome to New York.” This Taylor Swift is jaded rather than inexperienced. And she’s aggressive.
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The song is very catchy and refreshingly straightforward. Unlike with “Look What You Made Me Do” or “ … Ready For It,” there’s no acclimation period required before the listener is able to bop around their house to the song. But attitude-wise, it’s definitely the new Taylor. When she sings about drinking whiskey at Sunset and Vine—Hollywood—she’s signaling that her days as an everywoman are over: She’s famous and she’s not going to pretend otherwise. For “Look What You Made Me Do,” it seemed she wanted listeners to step into a fantasy of being a media-manipulating superstar. For this song, though, the glamour is just context. Insert your own encounters with unbearable gorgeousness.
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Most interesting, though, will be what effect that pre-chorus drumbeat has. Rap is dominating the charts lately, partly to the exclusion of female pop stars, so it does seem market-savvy for Swift to mix a little more of that genre in. But you can also hear a comment about musical styles and identity in her new songs, and not a particularly original—or culturally un-fraught—one. Once again in pop history, a singer attempts to convey new edge, new danger, by trying on a little more syncopation.
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