Pretty much my thoughts. It's not terrible at all, but it's far less cohesive and doesn't seem to have the highlights, even on first listen.
I like it more than almost any other pop album in this vein. But I don't like pop music in this vein generally, so that's not really a point of praise. She still writes great hooks, and I'll always like her voice. I'm just not at all interested in the lyrical content here, and I really, really miss her old sound.
In my head I read "miss old sound" and just always assume it's about Fall Out Boy. I forgot what thread I was in for a second.
I'm not saying This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things is good, but at the very least it's a jokey, fun song, which gives it the edge over Bad Blood.
As expected, New Year's Day is one of the best. I'll try listening to this again with headphones tonight. First listen reaction was pretty tepid. EDIT: "Don't read the last page, but I stay" is legit such a sweet line and I wish there was more of that here
I think a lot of these songs would be better if they weren't so buried in the production elements. "King of My Heart" in particular. "Getaway Car" is a fucking homerun, though.