Taylor Swift drops 12th Album "The Life Of A Showgirl" with mixed reactions

The new record was greeted with mixed reviews, with some praising its emotional range and innovative production, while others felt it fell short of Swift’s past work.

4th of October 2025

Pop icon Taylor Swift dropped her 12th album, The Life Of A Showgirl on Friday, October 3, 2025). The album arrived at 5 a.m., and immediately was being streamed by fans from all over the world. This release was a significant milestone in Swift’s career, having regained ownership of her back catalogue and announced her engagement to NFL player star, Travis Kelce.

There was a lot of anticipation before the album came out. Spotify shared that over 5 million fans had pre-saved the album, making it one of the most talked about releases on the platform. Taylor had dropped the album’s name on Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, which had attracted millions of views.

The new record was greeted with mixed reviews. Some praised its emotional range and innovative production, others thought it fell short of what they heard on her past albums. Rolling Stone highlighted the album’s bold sounds, describing it as “guitar-strained vulnerabilities,” giving it five stars. At the same time, The Guardian and The Telegraph were less kind to the album and said that it did not have the dramatic energy of Taylor’s earlier releases.

Swift went back to work with producers Max Martin and Shellback on this project, making it their first collaboration since her 2017 album, Reputation. She described the collaboration as very exciting, saying it felt like going back into a past relationship with a present and renewed energy and skill set.

The Life Of A Showgirl followed her 2024 release of The Tortured Poets Department, which was made during Taylor’s most busy period in career, which also saw the release of her record breaking Eras Tour.