Joe Jonas has had his say on Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’, saying that “everybody’s got an opinion about it”.
- READ MORE: Taylor Swift – ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ review: magical when the songwriter just lets herself be
Jonas and Swift briefly dated between July and October 2008, before the relationship ended via a phone call. Fans have long speculated that a portion of Swift’s 2008 album ‘Fearless’, including ‘Forever & Always’ and ‘Mr. Perfectly Fine’, was written about him.
Her new album ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ has broken countless records, earning Swift her 15th US Number One and breaking Adele’s long-held streaming-era record for first-week sales.
Despite its resounding commercial success, however, it has not been met with universal acclaim from the huge Swift fanbase, with some hailing it as the return of “pop perfection”, but others declaring it “the worst Taylor Swift album yet” and “boring and basic”.
Now, Jonas has shared his verdict on the album. In an interview with Esquire, he was asked if he had listened to it, to which he replied: “I’ve heard some of it.”
“I think she’s obviously the biggest artist out there, and I think it’s good,” he continued. “Everybody’s got an opinion about it, but from what I’ve heard, there are some catchy melodies.”
Swift has addressed some of the negative feedback she has received, telling Apple Music: “I welcome the chaos. The rule of show business is if it’s the first week of my album release, and you are saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping.”
She continued: “I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on art — I’m not the art police. Everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want and what our goal is as entertainers is to be a mirror. Oftentimes an album is a really, really wild way to look at yourself — what you’re going through in your life is gonna affect whether you relate to the music I’m putting out at any given moment.”
NME gave ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ three stars, writing: “To seek escapism is not a sin, but the best pop music makes the personal feel like life or death. ‘Speak Now’, ‘Reputation’, ‘Folklore’: her greatest works could be genuinely transformative. For the first time, ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ sees Swift not catalysed into artistic growth by love, but merely comfortably secured by it.”
One of the biggest talking points around the album is the suggestion that ‘Actually Romantic’ might be a diss track aimed at Charli XCX. Lines such as “I heard you call me Boring Barbie when the coke’s got you brave” led many to believe it was a rebuttal to Charli’s ‘Sympathy Is A Knife’ from ‘Brat’.
Swift has said the song is a “love letter to someone who hates you”, without revealing anything about specific individuals, while Charli has pointedly refused to comment on ‘Actually Romantic’.
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