Is Taylor Swift’s ‘The Encore’ any better than ‘The Life of a Showgirl’?

Last week, Taylor Swift released the deluxe version of her most recent album, The Life of a Showgirl, entitling it The Encore, wholly in keeping with the Hollywood aesthetic of the era. When the original album released in October 2025, it received extensive backlash from both fans and critics, it being labelled as tacky, disingenuous, and a considerable drop in quality following her collaborations with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner. The question which faces us now – will The Encore be just as disappointing?

Swift worked on the deluxe album with the same collaborators, Max Martin and Shellback, as she did for The Life of a Showgirl. Whereas the original album suffered from underwhelming production, compared to its relatively palatable lyricism, the majority of The Encore faces the opposite dilemma. Swift’s lyricism has been celebrated by critics for years, her recently being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, however The Encore (and the wider album, if we are being honest) does not sponsor the same quality as that, such as folklore and The Tortured Poets Department, which garnered her her place.

The bridge of ‘Patient Zero’ is quintessentially The Life of a Showgirl in the worst way possible

The deluxe opens with ‘Patient Zero’, the first announced single from The Encore, the title referring to the first identified person to be infected by a disease. Sickness is a theme seen before in Swift’s work, generally in reference to her relationship with British actor, Joe Alwyn – “My face was grey, but you wouldn’t admit that we were sick” (‘You’re Losing Me’, Midnights) – immediately suggesting a muse for the track. Conversely, the hauntingly romantic strings which emerge as soon as you hit play are reminiscent of the violin intro of the Speak Now World Tour rendition of ‘Our Song’, implying that ‘Patient Zero’ might be about someone a little further back in Swift’s life.

Following the instrumental, Swift’s vocals hit with a chorus, backed by typical Max Martin and Shellback synths, fully immersing the track in the Showgirl world. The lyrics in the chorus foreground the theme of the song: Swift was ‘Patient Zero’ of a lover, making herself known to her ex’s more recent partners as a source of comfort after they too are broken up with. Seemingly, the track calls to Joe Jonas and his recent divorce with Sophie Turner, who Swift allowed to stay in her NYC Tribeca apartment in 2023 during the custody proceedings. While her statement on the song suggests it is wholly hypothetical, inspired by conversations with friends, we know Swift regularly hyperbolises reality in her songwriting, alleged fiction always bearing an uncomfortable resemblance to life.

Unfortunately, the bridge – the part of a song’s structure which Swift is most well-known for – is quintessentially The Life of a Showgirl in the worst way possible. The production pulls back to something akin to that which I created on GarageBand when I was eight, and Swift begins to perform a half-hearted rap: “I know he charmed your family and friends / And you thought it’s cause he loves you / But it’s cause he loves how everybody else loves him (Uh-huh)”. That said, the second half of the bridge is stronger, more in keeping with the track’s sound, and more empowering for listeners. My favourite part of the song, however, is the very last line, where Swift cleverly employs a phonetic pun on “I see you”, calling back to the medical metaphor – the ICU, or Intensive Care Unit, a place where critically ill or injured patients receive treatment, Swift bringing other women affected by her ex back to life.

Swift and Kelce are happy, they don’t care what the public think, and they have great sex

While ‘Patient Zero’ is more reminiscent of Swift’s past (and so seemingly unliked to the main album thematically), ‘Cleveland!’ is all about her new husband, NFL star Travis Kelce, and so right on theme for The Life of a Showgirl. Frustratingly though, the second track on the deluxe album fails to expand on the pair’s relationship, only reiterating themes seen earlier in the album – they’re happy, they don’t care what the public think, and they have great sex (“The taste of me is acquired, but it’s his favourite dish”). That’s not to say that Swift owes listeners are full autobiography but, given that she has previously written so complementarily of other lovers (“Don’t want no other shade of blue but you” (‘hoax’, folklore)), it’s indescribably jarring to hear such performative, lacklustre thoughts about her one true life partner.

There has already been a considerable amount of public discussion surrounding the strength of Swift’s lyricism in the track, the majority of listeners arguing it is weak, underdeveloped, and too brutally to the point. Others have suggested audiences cannot complain, given that the lyrics have been written by those who criticise her, Swift simply quoting them in the first verse – how can she be wrong for writing it, when it was first written by others? My contention is that, while Swift is clearly repeating that which has been said to her in order to emphasise how Kelce’s love for her makes the commentary of others irrelevant, that doesn’t necessarily make a good song. Of course, the hate she has received may be unwarranted, but given that The Encore was written “out of pure gratitude for [fan] exuberance and celebration of” the original LP, maybe flipping everyone the bird, telling them to “hate all [they] like” is not the best way to express said gratitude.

Sonically, the track is brutal. The production on the deluxe compared to the main album – on the whole – is a much-needed improvement, most of the songs feeling more interesting than those released last year, however, ‘Cleveland!’ is the exception. The only way to describe the bells, drums, and saccharine joy encapsulated in the instrumental is that it perfectly invokes the feeling of suffering from depression at Christmas: you’re stood, on the cusp of a mental breakdown, in the middle of a shopping centre, everyone rushing to do their last-minute shopping, babies crying, all soundtracked by the blandest festive music possible. Having been in that exact scenario before myself, I can confidently say I’d rather do it again that listen to ‘Cleveland!’.

For the first time on the entire The Life of a Showgirl album, the so-called kings of pop, Max Martin and Shellback, give us a pop banger which you can’t help but dance to

The third track on the deluxe album begins with stunning vocals, layering harmonies together to create a blissful sense of calm, linking to the song’s title – ‘Pink Clouding’, a fleeting false sense of all-encompassing euphoria experienced at the beginning of addiction recovery. Swift’s use of her voice as an instrument helps to pain streaks of pink and yellow hues across listeners’ minds, laying the groundwork for the opening lyric: “Met the magenta sunrise”. While the use of synonyms to create a verse feels rushed and uncompelling, this track really shines in its production. That’s right – for the first time on the entire The Life of a Showgirl album, the so-called kings of pop, Max Martin and Shellback, give us a pop banger which you can’t help but dance to.

‘Pink Clouding’ contains a handful of lyrical callbacks to Swift’s 2017 track, ‘Getaway Car’, from the reputation album, suggesting it may be about her brief romance with Marvel actor, Tom Hiddleston. The second verse clarifies this idea, “He crossed my heart, I hoped to die / You met me at a cursed time” implying their relationship was doomed from the outset, Swift merely seeking comfort in him as a rebound, the way she treated him now “haunt[ing]” her. That said, the repetition of “Pink cloud, pink cloud” in the outro, as well as the closing lyrics, suggest a genuine apology, her now wishing Hiddleston the best, the repeated backing vocals bringing back the sense of harmony created in the intro.

While the production outshines the main album in some senses, the lyricism is thoroughly unclear

‘Babylon’ concludes the deluxe tracks, perhaps in the best way possible, it being a quintessential Taylor Swift song, a pop instrumental accompanying country-esque storytelling. Immediately, we are taken back in time by the plucking guitar, nostalgia engulfing the scene, Swift’s vocals even sounding more youthful and naïve. Imagery of leaving a small town behind to chase dreams has been something prominent on The Life of a Showgirl, featured in both ‘Father Figure’ and the titular track featuring Sabrina Carpenter, ‘Babylon’ feeling like the neat bow between the two, tying up this story, ready for the next era.

In the second verse, the subject is living their celebrity lifestyle, this failing to fulfil the dreams they once had, them craving the “melody” of the life they had before this, everything glamourised in hindsight: “You never knew that it was Babylon / ‘Til it was gone”. As the bridge emerges, time has shifted again, the subject now married with children, their own reflection on the past beginning to have a wider impact on those around them (“But darling, you end up hurting everybody else”); this only worsens with time, their absence being referred to as “self-harm”, it starting to have the potential to end their life as they know it, pushing them away from their family (“It’s bedtime, but you’re sitting in your car / You’re missin’ all the best parts”). This, though, is something they acknowledge only when it is potentially too late – “But you love this song” depicts a change in attitude from missing the past, to appreciating the present – we only realise what we have when it might be slipping away.

To tell the truth, The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore is confusing. While the production outshines the main album in some senses, the lyricism is unclear, there being no obvious theme which links the deluxe tracks to the overall body of work. Sure, some tracks have potential (namely, ‘Pink Clouding’ and ‘Babylon’, the latter of which could easily fit into the Speak Now vault), but others are a difficult listen, maintaining the uncomfortable drop in quality which the record itself sponsors. I don’t think Swift should be written off, but I’m slowly starting to doubt her ability to produce another album as strong as evermore or Midnights.

Recommended Listening: ‘Babylon’.

★★

Listen to The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore here: