I am not alone in my utter disappointment with Taylor Swift’s release of The Life of a Showgirl. While I haven’t gelled with several of her prior releases, this one was universally panned for its generic production, immature songwriting, and flood of vinyl/cd variants that flooded the market. Swift even seemed to distance herself a little from the release in recent interviews, where she focused more on her back catalog. That’s why I was surprised to see Taylor return to this record with a deluxe variant with four new tracks. Though my connection to her music has diminished completely, I understand many thoroughly enjoy the pop shine and playful mystery of her work. I purposely kept away from any teasers of these tracks to get an unbiased take on what might be diamonds hidden away from the initial release.

Swift’s lead single from this collection, “Patient Zero,” is a familiar tale of heartbreak by a charming man. I do appreciate the air of sophistication that the main string accompaniment adds to the song. It’s this dreaminess Martin and Shellback infuse in the production and Swift's staccato chorus that throws me for a loop. Seeing as she's well acquainted with this woman’s heartbreak, I would expect something more melancholic or even slightly tense to feed off their shared resentment. Taylor seems almost enraptured by the whole scenario with this sound.

“Cleveland!” is lyrically intolerable. I have heard its production is likened to holiday ad scoring, and I sadly have to agree. It’s too sterile, too corporate, and too trite. That winter closeout special chorus should at least elicit the elation of falling in love. Taylor’s lyrics are some of the most bitter and pointed towards her critics that it sounds more like a brag than the joy of someone who's found true love. I find it incredibly sophomoric and juvenile for an artist who has written about love and loss with nuance in the past.

Swift laments a rebound relationship that she ultimately destroyed in “Pink Clouding.” Again, I don’t understand this synth-pop gloss she chose to marry this notion to. It makes her feel more vapid and cruel to this person whose love was earnest and true toward her. Maybe that was the point. If she’d given it some piano and moody synths to bathe her confessions of reeling someone in with committing to the catch, I think it would have landed much better than this rather cliché fluff pop it's joined to.

“Babylon” ends out the record with a story of a man more dedicated to his self-image than his personal relationships. If I could remove the pointless pop beat and replace it with some softer percussion and give the acoustic some more depth than the constant 4-chord repetition, I think this could harken a bit back to her indie-folk/country-pop beginnings. My biggest issue is just how one-note all the production sounds. It’s like being served a snack when you want supper.

What’s not surprising, but disappointing, about this collection of bonus tracks is how devoid of passion any of them sound. Max Martin and Shellback have hit after hit under their belts, and this sounds like she grabbed session musicians to write advertisement music. “Cleveland!” is the most embarrassing song she’s ever written. The only song with a kiss of interest is the single “Patient Zero,” and even it feels hollow. These didn’t need to be released (especially in the 3 or 4 formats the single already is). Somewhere Swift stopped being a songwriter and started being a monopoly, and her releases became products rather than her art.

My overall thoughts on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore:

My rating scale: Love it = 1 point, Like it = 0.5 point, Dislike it = 0 points; Final score = total points/ number of tracks

Loved it: None

Liked it: “Patient Zero”

Disliked it: “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding,” & “Babylon”

My overall rating: 1.0 out of 10.

Album Review | ‘The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore’ by Taylor Swift was originally published in The Album Cafe on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.