Sunshine Westfall

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"You go through guys faster than Taylor Swift." That quote is justification enough for a one star review. But I will elaborate. Witty, smart, and progressive? I think not. You can tell that the script in this show was written by a man - or, rather, women who have internalized misogyny. It would be comedic if it weren't so horrible. It's 2021, and the writers/directors of this show still think it's acceptable to base a woman's character on her relationship history, and to use it to determine how much respect they think she deserves. Did they really think that would fly? Did they expect a pat on the back for that? For it to increase the show's popularity, let alone to sustain it? I honestly want to know what planet they're living on. What was going through their heads? People can 'explain it away' all they want. They already are. Downplaying and making excuses for it, and, worst of all, accusing TS of 'overreacting.' Take Slate Magazine's response, for example. The bottom line is that "joke" would not have been made if Taylor Swift were a man. If she were a man, her relationship history would not be a punchline, an excuse to dismiss her talents, a tactic to mock and trivialize her career. As TS said in a certain song about precisely these types of scenarios: "They'd say I played the field before I found someone to commit to - and that would be okay for me to do," had she been a male artist, instead of a female. Sure, it's just one "joke." A one - liner used in passing. But it represents a much bigger problem and a much bigger picture, one that has hung over women's heads for centuries: that they shouldn't be allowed the same sexual freedom that men are. So yeah, it's a big deal. It's unfunny. It's uncool. It's sexist. And it's just plain mean - spirited. This is 2021. We can do better.

The songwriting on Positions is boring, unoriginal, and uninspired. There's no narrative, no storytelling. There's no intriguing progression to this album, even as the tracks start hitting double digits. It's the same recycled theme that we heard on Dangerous Woman, on Sweetener, and on Thank U, Next. It's a rehash of a rehash, almost as if she's afraid to try something different. You get to a point in the journey through this album where you can't help but ask yourself, "where is she going with this, exactly?" That's where it took me, at least. And if I were a music artist, that's the *last* question I'd want my listeners to be asking. The lyricism just doesn't go anywhere, and neither does the production, for that matter, which isn't terrible, but does nothing to bolster the blandness of the lyrics. It's true that AG is a talented singer, but I can't help but wonder if she (and her team) think that they can coast a bit on the academic part of creating an album if they can get listeners to focus their attention on the, arguably, better aspect of the work: her vocals. If that is the case, I pity her. In finality, this album left me with little insight and very few genuine impressions, the most prominent of them being that she is capable of more than this.

Like Folklore, this album is lyrically and sonically stunning. TS should continue to make alt - pop - folk music, because she excels at it! Both of these albums have demonstrated that she will only continue to mature and evolve as a songwriter, and that she's still on a steady climb upwards. I'm just grateful to be able to witness her ascent. On another note, I'd like to address a primary complaint that people (critics) seem to be having about this album, and why that complaint is invalid: just because TS didn't completely reinvent herself (again) after Folklore, and do an entire genre shift doesn't mean that this is a bad album. Yes, the content on this album is similar, in style and in narrative, to what we heard on its predecessor. But it's still different material, and it's still good songwriting, whether or not you want to acknowledge that. The culture that constantly hounds and pressures female artists into reinventing their image is precisely what TS is trying to combat here. And I'll bet that if she were a male artist, people wouldn't be complaining about the fact that she put out two records of the same genre. So, enjoy it, appreciate it - or don't. If there are genuine flaws in the composition, production, or storytelling of this album that you notice, write about them. By all means. But simply saying that Evermore is "not different enough" from Folklore is *not* grounds for a bad review.