Stop the presses! On Taylor Swift's new album, she isn't just balling-out bad boyfriends, or pining for the good ones that got away.
She's pointing the finger at herself, admitting, at last, that she likes the kinds of guys who jerk her around, ignore her, or refuse to commit.
In three of the first four songs on "Red" - including the title track - Swift delivers lines like "I guess you didn't care/and I like that," "this path is reckless/and I like it," and "Loving him was burning red/good and red."
PHOTOS: THE WORST CELEBRITY BREAKUPS
The relish Taylor takes in these masochistic admissions lends a fresh twist to her long-established love for tart disclosures. More, it adds nuance to the kiss-and-tell lures that have made her, over the course of three previous CDs, the single most popular advocate for lonely teen girls in a generation.
The first three singles from "Red" lept to No. 1 on iTunes with a blistering swiftness. The new one, "State of Grace," aims for something as startling in the music, tipping off the CD's full ambition.
With its strident beat and pinging guitars, "Grace" aims for the stadium grandeur of U2. Throughout, Swift maps out a broader sound, leaving any pretense of a Nashville connection in the dust. Should a mandolin sheepishly sneak in at any point, it's quickly run over by a ten-ton truck of rock guitars.
Even a ballad, like "The Last Time," suggests something closer to Coldplay than to Carrie Underwood.
The songs, while catchy, manage to draw the ear more by their cheaply manipulative hooks than thanks to any admirably sure melodies. We're brought close by the maddening repetitions of a phrase (as in the tricky smash "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"). As teen-pop goes, there's nothing to rival the elegance of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" or the urgency of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe." Even the impeccable songwriter Dan Wilson (who collaborated on "Treacherous") couldn't coax greatness from the star.
Lyrically too, Swift writes generically. Her scenarios discover no individual detail in the telling. Even a song like the simile-crazed title track finds no fresh ones.
In a way, that's probably intentional. On the one hand, Swift has made herself a tabloid fixture by sending fans on a treasure hunt through her songs, searching for clues to which celebrity ex-boyfriend they trash.
But, in truth, they could be about anybody, the better to universalize the message and leave breathing room for fans to find whatever they want in the songs.
Not for nothing has this rich, beautiful and talented star become credible to millions as a surrogate friend. If those ordinary qualities make her approachable, they're doing nothing for the advancement of her art.
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