[Shaun]

Where do I stand on Taylor Swift? 1989 and Red were great, and were looking likely to be her peak since Reputation was garbage and Lover was just 'fine'. All of the thinkpieces written about her are, largely, a boring waste of time - I cannot really understand why so much hate or love is expressed about a popstar so...plain and boring? Neither of those are insults by the way, she's not really done anything objectionable since the "write about my celebrity ex" days where everything was an annoying flouting of victimhood by Kanye West, Harry Styles and whoever else. She's obviously grown up and is able to craft a song without the intention of it being covered by Entertainment Weekly, now.

Certainly, her shift towards more vocal politics is interesting and the most obvious example of her breaking from the shackles of record label expectations - I'd imagine her legal issues over her back catalogue and Scooter Braun being a colossal dickhead helped fuel this "no ****s given" approach - and I guess, in turn, that's made her more of an artist with something to say than just a singer lamenting their romantic issues.

But all of that out of the way... I have to say the critics may have oversold this to me. I went into this expecting a Norman ****ing Rockwell-style return to form, and whilst it's not bad, it's... not blowing me away. There are some very, very nice tracks that have a captivating quality that'll keep me coming back for repeated listens (see: the highlights below), but there are some that just pass me by without making an impression. I was under the illusion that 'Cardigan' was the main single from this... but why? It's one of the least memorable tracks.

It should come as no surprise that Jack Antonoff is behind most of the highlights for me; his work with Lorde, Lana, St Vincent and Carly Rae Jepsen in recent years has made for the best chunks of pop. Unfortunately, of his contributions, 'Mirrorball' sticks out as a particular misfire... just doesn't do anything for me. I expected a little more of 'Exile' too, since I love Bon Iver, but it's not going to stand the test of time as a high point in either of their discographies.

The two clear standouts for me are Epiphany and My Tears Ricochet. The former is simple and beautiful, a real time-standing-still moment that's bound to be used in at least 10,000 fanmade videos of Twitter users' favourite film and TV heartbreaks, whilst the latter feels the most like a standalone single that should've been the lead.

Highlights: My Tears Ricochet, Invisible String, Seven, This Is Me Trying & Epiphany
Avoid: Cardigan, Mirrorball, Mad Woman

I'm not sure if it's an 8/10, but it feels better than a 7.5... so I'll bust out my first annoying random decimal score here and give it a 7.9 Shave off a couple of tracks and it could easily be an 8.