“I have an obsession with knowing the answers to things,” an 18-year-old Taylor Swift told The New York Times in 2008. “When I don’t know what happened, it just bothers me, gets under my skin, and I need to write about it. For years.”

After a dozen albums spent examining the idea of “happily ever after,” Swift arrives at her answer on The Life of a Showgirl , a 12-track snapshot of her love story with now fiancé, Travis Kelce . Given the album’s pre-release visuals, some anticipated more of a straightforward showgirl narrative —a gritty, but glamorous peek behind the curtain of the blockbuster Eras tour . Perhaps that’s why there has been mixed reception among critics and fans alike to her latest collaboration with Swedish hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback ,

See Full Page