Swift once again proves she is a force to be reckoned with
American pop star and billionaire Taylor Swift released her newest album this past weekend, The Tortured Poet’s Department, and it is already breaking records left right and center.
The album was announced at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on February 4th after Swift won Best Pop Vocal Album for her previous studio album Midnights, and it has already surpassed Midnights in first day streaming numbers, proving that fans cannot get enough of Swift’s music.
Spotify announced a day before the album released that The Tortured Poet’s Department broke the record for the most pre-saved album in Spotify history. When the album was released, Spotify announced that not only had the album become the most streamed album in a single day in 2024, but of all time, breaking the record previously held by Swift’s previous album Midnights, according to Variety.
The album was also the most streamed album in a single day on Amazon Music and Apple Music, making it Swift’s most popular album to date, according to Today and Apple Music via Instagram. The Tortured Poet’s Department was also the largest music pre-order of all time, according to Today.
The US Billboard charts also released that the album sold 1.4 million copies in traditional album sales, according to initial reports from Luminate, with 243.4 million on-demand audio streams on opening day.
“The song Down Bad is so catchy,” said NECC student Matt Scharn.
The Tortured Poet’s Department originally had 16 tracks, coming in at just over an hour. However, Swift announced via Instagram only 2 hours after the release that she released The Tortured Poet’s Department: The Anthology the secret second half of the album. The second half includes 15 new songs, making the entire album come in at 2 hours and 2 minutes.
“I love how she released a regular album and then not even 24 hours later she released the deluxe version,” said NECC student Janie Dunn. “It’s so fun.”
The album received “generally favorable reviews” from critics, coming in at a 77 out of 100 from Metacritic.
Critics praised the album for its songwriting, musical composition, and emotion, with many critics saying that it is her strongest album to date. However, despite record breaking numbers, many critics felt The Tortured Poets Department was one of Swift’s weaker entries, finding the lyrics to be weak and the allusions in the album to pretend to have emotional depth.
In true Taylor Swift fashion, many fans have already begun decoding the new tracks. Many fans and critics have noticed the songs revolve around her relationships, especially her ex, English actor Joe Alwyn and most recent ex, Matty Healy, lead vocalist for the band the 1975.
Songs such as “So Long, London”, “loml”, and the title track “The Tortured Poets Department”, are all rumored to be written about Joe Alwyn, according to Cosmopolitan.
Fans also took notice of the song “thanK you alMee”, which many believe references the famous feud between Swift and celebrity Kim Kardashian.
“The song supposedly being about Kim Kardashian annoys be,” Dunn added. “I feel like she’s just dragging out this feud from years ago.”
Despite many negative reviews, the positive reviews have outweighed the negative ones, allowing for Swift to dominate the pop scene once again. “The Tortured Poets Department” is now streaming.
