As Taylor Swift wrapped up her Eras tour in Vancouver last December, fans speculated whether she would store away her glittery costumes and take a much-deserved respite. This historic world tour, the highest revenue earner ever, spanned almost two years, encompassing performances in 53 cities with a total of 149 shows. Amidst this busy schedule, she released an expansive double album last year, The Tortured Poets Department.

However, taking a break doesn’t seem to be part of Swift’s agenda. As highlighted in the title track of her 12th album—a collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter—Swift shares her enduring passion for performing and recording: ‘I’m committed to the life of a showgirl, darling, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything… It’s the only way I’d have it.’

This marks the beginning of her latest ‘Era’, characterized by vibrant orange themes and an album created in Sweden alongside producers Max Martin and Shellback, during brief pauses in the European segment of the Eras tour.

The Life Of A Showgirl has been billed as a return to a broadly based pop sound after recent detours into folk and indie-rock, and that’s true to an extent. It’s a sharp, polished record of 12 hook-heavy tunes that clocks in at just less than 42 minutes, with Taylor playing a lot of piano and providing her own multi-tracked backing vocals.

But there’s nuance and intrigue, too. There are love songs, a few knowing barbs, and references to Elizabeth Taylor, cancel culture… and Real Madrid. There’s also an affectionate nod to George Michael.

Any fears that the 35-year-old singer’s engagement to American footballer Travis Kelce might have blunted her creative edge can be discarded. She made her name singing relatable songs about unrequited love and untrustworthy bad boys, but she’s just as adept at extracting songwriting gold from romantic bliss. It helps, too, that she has plenty of old heartache to fall back on.

Love songs aside, the album taps into the electricity of the Eras shows, while also looking at the less savoury side of fame. It’s a topic Taylor has touched on before, notably on 2024’s Clara Bow, named after the silent movie star. The title track here is a story-song about a fading overnight star, ‘Kitty’, who meets an eager young Swift after a show and warns her of the struggles that lie ahead… advice she naturally ignores.

She looks to another screen goddess on a track named after Elizabeth Taylor, using the Hollywood legend’s life as a metaphor for her own, and illustrating the point with booming drums and strings. Producers Martin and Shellback, working with Swift for the first time since 2017’s Reputation, burnish these songs with shimmering guitars and gauzy electronics. And if Taylor has reined in her more freewheeling artistic instincts in the quest for greater pop fun, it’s a price she’s happy to pay.

Fans digging for references to her forthcoming wedding will also find plenty of fodder. ‘When I said I didn’t believe in marriage, that was a lie,’ she sings on plaintive piano ballad Eldest Daughter, the longest song here and one of the best. It’s a wonderfully nuanced piece that reiterates her knack of taking a specific event (falling off a trampoline and breaking an arm) to illustrate a wider truth (it pays to be cautious… at least until Mr Right arrives). Whatever musical style she chooses, her grounding in Nashville’s storytelling traditions shines through, and her lyrical touch remains sure.

Elsewhere, she targets an un-named individual who has crossed her on Father Figure, a song based on George Michael’s song of the same name. ‘You’ll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you’re drowning,’ she warns, while a hapless ex who refuses to move on gets it in the neck on Actually Romantic: ‘It’s actually sweet, all the time you spent on me.’

Building on the momentum of the Eras tour, The Life Of A Showgirl finds Swift at the peak of her powers. It even closes with a clip of her thanking fans from the stage.

Its success, of course, is a foregone conclusion. A record 5million fans have pre-saved it on Spotify and a special vinyl edition, available online, sold out in under an hour. If the summer months were dominated by Oasis’s Live 25 tour, the autumn will surely belong to the eternal showgirl.

Verdict: A new Era launched in style. 5/5

THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL: TRACK-BY-TRACK GUIDE

The Fate Of Ophelia

‘I heard you calling on the megaphone,’ sings Taylor as she begins her 12th album. And we have to wait just 47 seconds before hitting the first big chorus, a surefire sign she’s looking to reclaim her pop crown – Tay Tay goes TikTok. With pedal steel and piano adding swing, it’s an addictive opener that gets better with each listen.

Elizabeth Taylor

The queen of pop seeks guidance from a movie legend as she sings about the mixed blessing of material luxury and romantic turmoil on a number punctuated by melodramatic drums, strings and harp. ‘What could you possibly get for the girl who has everything and nothing all at once?’ she asks. ‘Babe, I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust… just kidding.’

Opalite

Named after a luminous man-made crystal used to signify a fresh start, this singalong pop track is beautifully constructed, with Taylor’s clear voice augmented by guitars and ascending, Beatles-like harmonies at the close. ‘You were dancing through the lightning strikes, sleepless in the onyx night, but now the sky is opalite,’ she sings.

Father Figure

A nod to George Michael’s 1987 song of the same name. Rather than sampling the original, Taylor delivers her own lyrics (and gives George a co-writing credit). Her words are darker, as she seeks to settle an old score with an unnamed protege. ‘You want a fight, you found it, I got the place surrounded’ she warns.

Eldest Daughter

A classic Swift piano ballad (and, at just over four minutes, the longest track here), the album’s first big love song addresses her forthcoming wedding. ‘I’m never gonna let you down, never gonna leave you out… when I said I didn’t believe in marriage, that was a lie.’ One for the solo piano section of her next tour.

Ruin The Friendship

A pop song built around a simple drum loop, this is a rather dark playlet about seizing the moment. Exploring deeply buried memories of an unrequited playground crush, Taylor is brought down to earth by news that the boy in question has since died. ‘Whispered at the grave, I should have kissed you anyway.’

Actually Romantic

Taylor plays the mean girl as she takes down an obsessive ex (dismissed as ‘a toy chihuahua’) who once called her a ‘Boring Barbie’ — but continues to send her unsolicited Valentine’s cards. Musically, it’s a throwback to her indie-orientated albums, being built around a guitar riff that recalls The Pixies’s Where Is My Mind?

Wi$h Li$t

A ballad that runs through a checklist of other people’s desires — yachts, helicopters, designer sunglasses, Palme d’Ors and Oscars, a contract with Real Madrid — before delivering the punchline. ‘They should have what they want… I just want you.’

Wood

The most dance-friendly track on an album that isn’t exactly one for the nightclubs, this is funky and upbeat, with Taylor declaring she will ignore all superstitions now that she’s found love. ‘You and me, we make our own luck,’ she sings, before an unusually saucy pay-off: ‘His love was the key that opened my thighs!’

CANCELLED!

‘Something wicked this way comes,’ sings Swift as she throws down the gauntlet to her enemies, while sympathising with those who have fallen victim to cancel culture. The song, a chugging rocker, feels like a throwback to 2017’s gloomy Reputation. ‘Good thing I like my friends cancelled, I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal.’

Honey

The album’s penultimate track is much brighter, but also Showgirl’s weakest moment. With piano and woodwind prominent, it paints an idyllic picture of summertime spritzes and pink skies. ‘You could be my forever-night stand,’ she sings.

The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)

Continuing the show-must-go-on theme of 2024’s I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, the album’s title track finds Taylor and duet partner Sabrina Carpenter vowing to continue a life in showbiz (‘the hustle’) despite the downsides. ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way,’ admits Taylor, as the album closes with the cheers of the Eras tour ringing in our ears.