“Lover” sold three million units worldwide through its first week. (Photo courtesy of Republic Records)

Troy Lafond
Connector Editor

Taylor Swift released her seventh studio album, “Lover,” on Aug. 23, 2019. Following on the heels of her divisively received “reputation,” “Lover” strives for an artistic comeback for Taylor, and she mostly succeeds in doing so. Though marred a bit by its poor pre-released singles as well as some track list bloat, “Lover” has more than a few that stand among Taylor’s best.

While Taylor has spent much of her career singing about themes of heartbreak, “Lover” finds her basking in love. Through and through, “Lover” is defined by overall happiness. Except for the heart wrenching “Soon You’ll Get Better” and the emotional “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” this album is a celebration of love and happiness and all the feelings that come along with it. While Taylor has certainly written more than her fair share of happy songs, this being the predominant theme for her album is a breath of fresh air, and just the rejuvenation and inspiration she needed to make “Lover” fantastic.

What sets Taylor apart from the rest is her songwriting prowess. While this may not have been particularly evident on the painfully generic “Me!” or the poorly executed “You Need To Calm Down,” her incredible songwriting shines on the album’s tracks. “Cornelia Street” is the best example of such; it is evidently personal in depicting a detailed scene from her life but making it into a universal story that anyone can connect to. Another standout is the inevitable wedding staple “Lover,” whose lyrics simultaneously sound like a song and vows she could be reading at a wedding.

Musically, the album can be a bit scattershot, but in its prime, it takes on a sound that sounds a bit like taking everything that worked in the production of “reputation” but infusing it with more of a “1989” style. In doing so, she explores a more synthpop and electropop sound than she ever has before, but in a way that still sounds distinctly like her. While “I Think He Knows” almost sounds like it could be on Carly Rae Jepsen’s newest album, the lyrics and the delivery still sound like Taylor Swift through and through.

However, this sound is not universal across the album, and deviation from it can create some jarring moments. “Paper Rings,” despite being an album standout, is the only pop-rock song on the album, and the intro ends up sounding super out of place as a result. It is too good to criticize the decision, but it does interrupt the flow a bit. Similarly, “Soon You’ll Get Better” is a devastating ballad about her mom’s struggle with cancer, but the stripped back country instrumentation and overall tone of the song is completely at odds with everything else on the album. And right after “Soon You’ll Get Better” ends, “False God” starts, which is perhaps the most sensual R&B song Taylor has ever made. Strange decisions like these hold back “Lover” from reaching the unified, career defining status it otherwise has the potential to reach.

These decisions could be forgivable if the album felt like it needed more content, but it ends up running a bit long in the end. Clocking in just over an hour and at 18 tracks, the album feels like it is starting to slog as it gets nearer and nearer to the end. Worsening this issue, the album in general just starts getting worse near the end. After the stellar “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” it hits a rough patch that it struggles to emerge from. “London Boy” is fun but questionably written, “False God” doesn’t really suit her strengths, any appeal that “You Need to Calm Down” had has been done better by her before, and “Me!” is potentially one of the worst singles she has released. While there are a few shining spots near the end, especially the quirky but endearing “It’s Nice to Have a Friend,” the album just does not have the momentum it has near the beginning.

That being said, “Lover” still is, through and through, a return to form for Swift. If just three to four songs had been cut, this could compete to be her best album overall. “Cruel Summer,” “The Archer,” “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince” and “Cornelia Street” are some of her best songs to date, and it explores new lyrical and musical ground for her that still feel uniquely like the classic Taylor Swift sound.

Overall grade: A-