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Despite its over-two hour run time and diaristic lyrical density, the true genius of TTPD lies in what can be read between the lines. It's a culmination of all the pieces that have created the astronomically successful puzzle that is Taylor Swift music over the last 18 years while also breaking ground into something brand new. Tapping into the lyrical chaos of Taylor Swift, the devastatingly beautiful heartbreak of Red, the devil-may-care attitude of Reputation, the grounding indie-acoustic storytelling of Folklore and Evermore, and the glittery haze pop of Midnights, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT emerges as something that transcends an album-- it's a collection of songs that is tangible rather than describable. And this is not a project that can be consumed and understood in a single go; it unearths a new gift with each listen, revealing poetic melodies, lyrics that explain the unexplainable, production that mimics emotional turmoil (or should I say torture?), and the liberating hope that even the deepest heartbreak can foster a masterpiece.
Stand-out tracks: "So Long, London" "But Daddy I Love Him" "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" "I Can Do it With a Broken Heart"
My favorites: "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" "Guilty as Sin?" "loml" "The Alchemy"
"It's the worst men I write best." Virulent love that disguised itself as true love inspires album opener "Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)" and solo-written "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys." The prior is understated yet sharp, with stunningly complimentary Post Malone harmonies and scathing lyrics like "All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February" and "What about your quiet treason?" The building production coupled with the effectively repetitive "I love you, it's ruining my life" makes Taylor's turmoil-turned-freedom palpable. "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" sees the duo of Taylor and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff flexing their metaphorical pop-banger wings to deconstruct the destruction of a tactless lover who "saw forever so he smashed it."
Whether longing for comfort or trying to escape from loneliness, Taylor spins her diaristic tales in the style of the fictional characters from Folklore on tracks like "The Tortured Poets Department," "Fresh Out The Slammer" and "I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)." These tracks feel like a reflection back on those lethal loves well after the chapter has closed, dissecting the little things made the heartbreak worth it.
Infamous in the world of Taylor Swift, track five "So Long, London" embraces its role on the album as heartwrenching, reflective, and completely devastating. Folklore and Evermore collaborator Aaron Dessner lends pulsing, haunting production that illustrates the anxious tragedy of losing love: "I stopped CPR, after all, it's no use/The spirit was gone, we would never come to/And I'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free." While "So Long, London" is laced with some resentment, Aaron-produced "loml" vulnerably bares a heartbreak that will haunt her forever: "Your arson's match, your somber eyes/I'll see until I die/You're the loss of my life."
While so many would cower in the face of heartbreak, Taylor emerges ferocious on tracks like sardonic "Down Bad," scorching "Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine)", and fiercely triumphant "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" The latter is a different kind of heartbreak: "Cause you lured me, and you hurt me, and you taught me/You caged me, then you called me crazy/I am what I am cause you trained me/So who's afraid of me?" While a romantic heartbreak usually heals with time, life as a constant topic on people's tongues seems to have left Taylor feeling dehumanized and powerless. So no, we don't get to tell her about "sad."
As a Member of the Tortured Poets Department, I hereby declare that our Chairman, armed with quills and daggers, glitter and lace, pain and power, has penned one of the most noteworthy achievements of her illustrious career.
GRAMMY for Album of the Year
THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT is one of eight nominees for the coveted Album of the Year at the 2025 GRAMMYs. It's Taylor's seventh nomination in the category (she's won a record-breaking four times already) and this is her fourth album in a row to be nominated. I have conflicting feelings about TTPD taking home this title, mostly because I don't feel it lives up to the incredibly high precedent set by her four prior wins in the category: 2008's Fearless, 2014's 1989, 2020's folklore, and 2024's Midnights.
THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT seems like an album that wasn't made with the intention of wow-ing the Grammys selection committees. It's an emotional rollercoaster that at times barely even seems to make sense in a way that only Taylor can make sense of. Despite its double-digit number of weeks spent at number one and its colossal vinyl records sales, this album just wasn't a cultural phenomenon in the way that every single one of her prior wins in the AOTY category was. The writing on TTPD is outrageously poetic and, honestly, stunningly tortured. The sonic landscape of this album is very distinctly not indie-acoustic like folklore or pop like Midnights, but falls somewhere mixed in between. As awful as it sounds, the Recording Academic probably doesn't want to give Taylor this award yet again, especially when there are so many other albums in this category this year that are honestly just better complete albums than THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT.
AM I OBSESSED?
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