Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department (April 19, 2024) Album • Page 117

They definitely are. I hope Taylor blows their minds and puts out Debut instead though.

 

What's the cut off for TV? Midnights? I don't follow all the hype for them.

 

Reputation and Debut are the only 2 left

 

Debut and Rep are the only ones left. I suspect we get both in 25, then TS12 in 26.

 

yep ^^^

 

Taylor Swift Concert Terrorist Plot Thwarted in Vienna

 

oh man, to me no one of Maisie’s generation (and we’re all just living in it) comes close to her pop songwriting for me. the images, details, personality, variety, storytelling, hooks, and marriage of lyric and melody are on another level for me. the thing that maybe blew my mind the most was learning she made her debut album at the same time she made the Trying: Season 2 soundtrack—I like most of those soundtrack songs better than like everyone’s album songs. I like Holly too, but the distinct and channelled scenes Maisie paints with such an effortless feel and absurd hooks are far more vivid and affecting for me. her songs just seem like the clearest heir to Taylor's early writing I've found.

this must be what it feels like to stan a female pop star on the internet but without the doxxing and wishing people death

 

I'm a little fatigued with Taylor's very wordy storytelling approach, so that might actually be why I'm not as big a fan of Maisie, who I agree feels like one of the clearest Taylor descendants. Holly works so well with atmosphere and vibe, and I've really been digging her less ornate lyrical style. I also think she's the stronger melody writer of these two, but I sense we might just have to agree to disagree on that front.

 

I like Holly's album the most, but I think Maisie stands alone as her own thing more than anyone else, she really is something special but I think she's still not at the best version of her music

 

I guess I also found some parts of The Good Witch to be just a tad corny?

 

Does anyone else have very mixed opinions on Gracie Abrams? I liked her when I first discovered her and even went to see her live and had a pretty enjoyable time but I’ve become less into her music since then. I don’t remember if I listened to the new album yet so I’ll have to do that. Her breathy singing got a bit tiring for me.

Although I played her album This Is What It Feels like a lot when I discovered her and I still very much enjoy some of the songs on there but I was already getting my breathy music fix at the time with Phoebe and Gracie and even Taylor lol so it became a bit much and the second album was decent but not wowing me.

 

I like her first album a lot more, I think it feels more genuine (obviously I have no idea) and the songs are just better, but I do hear what you mean by corny and I can't disagree. I think a level of corniness is part of the appeal overall, but its a thin line

 

Yeah I used to like her more but around Good Riddance I tapped out. Her new one is better than that but she’s the worst of that class to me

 

One day Taylor is going to start a music festival and have all of her protégés on the lineup and she will make bank having them all on one lineup haha

 

and she'll call it...... Loverfest!!!!

 

That desire for a more open and atmospheric writing style makes sense. Conor Oberst on a podcast said he started listening to mostly instrumental music cause he got tired of having to deal with words in songs lol and this is Conor Oberst. Obv extreme but I can understand that impulse as I get older. and yeah we’ll have to agree to disagree on the melody front for sure. Maisie just seems like such a verse-chorus-bridge savant and all her songs feel distinct and stick in my brain, and while Holly does create great atmosphere, I can’t say the same for a lot of hers

 

she definitely has her own voice and is her own thing. special for sure. really looking forward to where she goes too

 

she's havin fun I enjoyed. and then will have transcendent serious productions like "History of Man"

edit: I also just have an incredible tolerance for sentimentality

 

wouldn't that just further the Taylor's daughter argument

sorry had to

 

Taylor didn't used to be so wordy. Used to think her storytelling was so succinct. "Made a rebel of a careless mans careful daughter" was iconic.

Back when I was writing more creatively I feel like I'd subtly change my style based on whatever I was reading at the time. Not in an intentional plagiarizing kinda way, but more like trying on different shoes. I do the same thing when I get super into a new TV show and I feel like I develop a new personality lol. I wonder how that kinda stuff impacts Taylor's writing. Or maybe I just don't have a strong sense of self and identity ha

 

I really like Gracie, but I'm a little pissed off about her most recent album. I feel like the first two songs she released were deliberately chosen to suggest that she was doing something different this album, and then the rest of it is...pretty much just more of the same. There are other good songs on the record, but the two singles are far and away the best tracks on the record, and point in a poppier direction that I wish she'd explore further. Mostly, I think she needs to stop making songs with Aaron Dessner.

I haven't spent a ton of time with the debut.

The sentimentality isn't a problem for me at all. One of my favorites is "Wendy," for instance. Another is "The Band and I," which is definitely corny, but in a good way. The corniness I have a little more trouble with stuff like "Body Better" and "You're Just a Boy..."

You aren't wrong!

 

I gotcha yeah I figured that was more likely the kind of corniness you meant given our love for sincerity and sentimentality in other artists. I feel like “Body Better” actually belies a real anguish and insecurity, but I know what you mean overall and that’s fair. Those types of songs from her make me have a good time when I’m listening to them so have no issue, but I do prefer her more sincere side

 

I don't even doubt the sincerity, I just think the execution is a little clunky. I generally prefer her ballads, though stuff like "Lost the Breakup" is pretty fun.

 

Maybe sincere isn’t the right word, since I think all her stuff is a manifestation of an emotional experience. The “channelled energy” aspect of her writing where songs feel like physical instantiations of very particular emotion is something I love about her and all my favorite songwriters’ work. Maybe I mean stuff that mines her true romanticism and reveals her sweetness generally being my favorite. Like I LOVE “The Last One”. The Trying soundtrack she did might be too cheesy for some, but the innocence and love in those songs just makes me happy to be alive (while also being a fictional writing flex stuffed with cool images). But yeah I guess I just find those songs you listed and others of its kind to be well executed for what they’re meant to be, add variety to the record, and are just a fun time with great hooks