Taylor Swift: first reactions to The Tortured Poets Department are in - what have reviewers said so far?

Swifties across the world are in hysteria as the megastar released her 11th studio album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.

The album, which Taylor Swift announced at the Grammys earlier this year, has finally been released, giving both fans and critics a look into her brand new songs and lyrics charting her life, including her heartbreak. Fans have already spotted clues alluding to her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, as well as her very brief fling with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.

There have also been references spotted to her current beau, NFL star Travis Kelce interlaced with Swift’s familiar and comforting pop. In short, Swifties have not been left disappointed by the new release - but what have critics said of the new music?

The Guardian has given the album four stars out of five. Reviewer Alexis Petridis praised the songwriting on the album, adding: “There are plenty of beautiful tunes, but it doesn’t bother with a huge statement banger, settling instead for a mood of etiolated melancholy.”

The Independent’s Helen Brown called ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ “irresistible”, handing it full marks of five stars. She said that the album contrasted Swift’s last studio output in ‘Midnights’, saying: “And while her previous album, Midnights, seemed to bounce off glitchy phrases aimed at TikTok, this record draws powerfully on Swift’s country roots, spooling out longer narratives and tassel-flicking out the witty wordplay.” Rolling Stone has branded the album Swift’s “most personal yet”, with Rob Sheffield proclaiming the record as an instant classic. Sheffield said: “It’s the cathartic confession of a woman who thought she had adulthood — and adult romance — all figured out, only to find herself realizing she knows nothing.

“From “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” to “Fortnight” to “Clara Bow,” these 30-something break-up tales are new turf for her. She sounds confused, bitter, raging, vulnerable, yet more gloriously chaotic than we’ve ever heard her before.” In The Telegraph’s four star review of the album, Neil McCormick says: “In terms of emotional insight and sheer singer-songwriter genius, it is not in the league of such heartbreak classics as Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks and Joni Mitchell’s Blue, but at least it reaches for such heights. There are some welcome edges here, but I venture that when she is ready to stop feeding the American dream machine, that is when she will be ready to make her masterpiece.” In short - the critics appear to be loving the latest release from Swift as much as her die-hard fans, with her songwriting particularly noted as a standout on the album. She seems unstoppable as the world’s biggest megastar, and with ‘The Tortured Poets Department, it looks like she shows no sign of slowing down.