Taylor Swift Life of a Showgirl as it happened: US singer-songwriter releases 12th studio album, says ‘album just feels so right’ in Instagram post

Well, honey, we’re out of the woods. I hope you got everything that was on your wish list and that your opinions of Showgirl haven’t ruined any friendships. Please tell me you picked up those puns...

Thank you so much for joining us on this rollercoaster ride that is a Taylor Swift album launch. We were enchanted to have you along for the journey.

If you’re still hungry for more content, you can read Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen’s review here. You can also read a full track-by-track breakdown on this blog, and don’t forget to choose your favourite Showgirl track in our poll, which is pinned up top!

Now, enjoy listening to the album on repeat, and we’ll see you in the next era!

Given his fiancé just wrote a whole album about him, including a glowing review of his, erm, wood, you’d think Travis Kelce would be able to muster at least a few words of congratulations for Swift on social media. Obviously, Kelce doesn’t have to make his thoughts public, but given the pair have built an entire brand on their partnership, you’d think he’d have at least scheduled a post...

So far, all we’ve seen is a slightly lame post on Kelce’s podcast account referencing Mean Girls.

Elsewhere, Nicki Minaj has taken a break from her escalating social media feud with Cardi B to share her (many) thoughts about the album.

Minaj’s flurry of tweets include: “Oh Taylor #WOOD was EXACTLY what I needed tonight. Thank you,” and “And now…The Sagittarius lashing spree culminates with The Life Of A Showgirl,” followed by “GO IN FOR THE KILL, TAYLOR. LET’S GO!!!!”

Sabrina Carpenter (who features on The Life of a Showgirl’s final track) also showed some love on Instagram, posting, “I love you Taylor”.

It’s not every day that a new Taylor Swift album drops during spooky season, and one Swiftie is taking full advantage of that.

To welcome both Halloween and The Life of a Showgirl, a very creative fan has decorated the stairs to their brownstone townhouse with the headstones of all of Swift’s past lovers – Matty Healy, Joe Alwyn, Jake Gyllenhaal, you name it, their grave is on display.

Above them is a very flamboyant skeleton Taylor Swift and a much less bulky Travis Kelce dressed in his Kansas City Chiefs jersey. It appears they’re having a grand old time over the corpses of her exes.

Over to the right is a special display all for Scooter Braun, arguably Swift’s arch-nemesis (she had to buy her music back from him – it was a whole messy ordeal). Skeleton Braun is dressed in what appears to be an orange (perfect for Showgirl!) prison jumpsuit, and he’s trapped in a cage. Quite the statement, but Swift has never been known for being subtle either, so it suits.

One only needs to turn to social media to see that Swifties around the world are loving The Life of a Showgirl. But how is it being received by the experts?

If you haven’t already, make sure to read our music critic Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen’s verdict on the album.

Now, let’s take a look at what some other critics around the world are saying:

• The New York Times: Pop music critic Jon Caramanica drew parallels between Showgirl and Reputation, of all Swift’s previous works, viewing the album as “an implicit capstone to Taylor Swift’s career to date, as several significant narratives come to a conclusion.” But ultimately, he sees it as a confused, decentred work. “Showgirl has hints of what a Swift album about requited love might sound like, but for now, she’s not quite over the taste of blood,” he concludes his review with.
• The Guardian: Head pop and rock critic Alexis Petridis doled out a measly two stars to The Life of a Showgirl, commenting on the album’s “distinct lack of undeniable hooks and nailed-on melodies”, save for Elizabeth Taylor. “It’s just nowhere near as good as it should be given Swift’s talents, and it leaves you wondering why. Perhaps romantic contentment simply writes whiter than vengeful post-breakup bitterness, or perhaps it wobbles your judgment,” Petridis writes.
• Variety: Chief music critic Chris Wilma, had plenty of criticisms, but was overwhelmingly positive. “It’s too late for Swift to have a ‘song of the summer,’ but this feels like the Album of the Summer – the calendar be damned. It’s giddy, funny, touching, silly, haughty and moving in about equal measure, but most of all, it’s got a sunstruck kind of love that besottedly seeps through the orange LP grooves and might even make you believe in romance again, too,” he wrote.
• Rolling Stone: Assistant editor Maya Georgi gave the album a gushing five-star review, writing: “Only a sucker would think the curtain close of the Eras Tour marked the end of Swift’s almighty reign in the pop sphere. With her 12th studio album, the musician shoots into a fresh echelon of superstardom – and hits all her marks.”
• Billboard: Executive director of music Jason Lipshutz was similarly praiseful, writing that “The limit does not exist to how high Swift can keep soaring… The Life of a Showgirl is one of the most grounded, well-rounded projects of Swift’s career – a surprise, in the context of the hype preceding it. That doesn’t make it any less successful.”

Music critic Tom W. Clarke has picked his favourite song from the album. Vote for yours in the poll above, and tell us why in the comments.

The Life of a Showgirl is, more than anything, a love letter. Taylor Swift is the world’s greatest pop star, fresh off the biggest world tour in history, and is newly engaged to a man who seems to adore her, after years of having her love life under a microscope. She’s happy, and it’s beautiful. The album overflows with joy – at turns wistful, nostalgic, playfully acerbic, and carefree.

But best of all, it means we get Wood – the most uncharacteristically sex-forward song Taylor Swift has ever released, and an absolute jam. From the moment that funky, twisting, almost Prince-esque guitar kicks in, it’s clear this is a groove for the boudoir.

If this album is about love, Wood is pure lust, the kind of ravenous desire that only comes from being with someone who makes you feel safe and seen and sexy as hell. It’s funny, and surprising, double entendre out the wazoo. It could so easily have been cringey, but it couldn’t sound more easy and natural. This is the most fun Taylor Swift has sounded in a hot minute, and it’s so great.