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“All the songs are about the tumultuous, crazy, insane, intense, semi-toxic relationships that I’ve experienced in the last two years. All those emotions spanning from intense love, intense frustration, jealousy, confusion…in my mind all those emotions are red…There’s nothing beige about any of those feelings. So I called the record Red,” said Swift, donning her token crimson lipstick, on a web chat August 12th. 

However, the typical T-Swift songs on her album, such as “I Almost Do,” “Starlight” and “Stay, Stay, Stay,” are emotionally empty.

They capitalize on Swift’s style but lack powerful lyrics. Her fans will still enjoy the upbeat, teen-bopper “Stay, Stay, Stay,” because it’s catchy, even though her message falls flat. 

Angsty teens might connect with “Holy Ground” or “Sad Beautiful Tragic” if they are devoted fans, but again the lyrics glide the surface.

One would assume reflective song titled “Holy Ground” would move listeners, not be forgettable with lyrics such as “And for the first time I had something to lose / Well I guess we fell apart in the usual way / And the story’s got dust on every page” and slow, repetitive movement lulling listeners to sleep instead of unlocking sorrow. 

Perhaps her habitual dating habits the past two years she was creating “Red” make it challenging to write about real emotions because her relationships don’t last long enough to tug at genuine heart strings. 

In “The Lucky One,” it sounds like she’s trying to be pensive—perhaps about her fame or the concept in general—but it comes across as wallowing “And they tell you that you’re lucky, But you’re so confused, Cause you don’t feel pretty, you just feel used, And all the young things line up to take your place”. Taylor, you’re a 22-year-old, Grammy-winning singer with four albums—you life is pretty awesome. 

The couple songs she hard-core experimented in, “State of Grace” and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” are fresh and brilliant. “State of Grace” is a perfect start to her album and no one says it better than Swift herself: “This is the golden age of something good and right and real”. It sounds relaxed and sincere with the supportive electric bass in the background instead of her typical, plucky, country guitar strumming. The song opens as you listen to it, announcing to her fans this is not the same Taylor Swift who did the hit “You Belong With Me.” 

She partnered-up with other writers, producers and artists to change up her style, which worked in “The Last Time" with Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol. Lightbody’s singer-songwriter alternative feel played off of Swift’s country pop sound to create something pleasant. 

In “I Knew You Were Trouble” after the line “Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground,” the beat drops and Swift adds in an unforeseen, yet fitting, dub-step break, another sign that house music is now mainstream. Swift is definitely not the country pop artist from a few years ago. 

Swift knows how to do break up songs. “Red,” “All Too Well” and “Treacherous” are great, at the expense of her exes. She uses color interestingly in “Red”—“ Losing him was blue like I’d never known, missing him was dark grey all alone, loving him was red.” 

Something also must be said about the song widespread on radio waves, “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” and her other upbeat, pop song “22.” Her song “22” is the ideal song for a group of girls driving around, singing along to the radio and goofing off.

Swift’s self-parody is the song you hate to love with its catchy beat and funny lyrics—“With some indie record that's much cooler than mine”—even if the music video has her band dressed as her stuffed animals coming to life and a strange mix of childhood and adult dating. 

Most memorable songs: 

“We Are Never Getting Back Together”

“State of Grace”

“I Knew You Were Trouble”

“Red” 

Read more of NT's album reviews here.

Reach Staff Reporter Katherine Ostrowski here.