Taylor Swift shared her candid thoughts on the passionate range of reactions to “The Life of a Showgirl.” She thanked the fans who “immediately” got the album’s emotion and themes — but she also had words for the critics.
While appearing on Apple Music’s “The Zane Lowe Show,” Taylor Swift said she “welcomes the chaos” seeing that it’s a “rule of show business”: “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 said.
“And art, I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on art. I’m not the art police. It’s like everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want. And what our goal is as entertainers is to be a mirror.”
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The record has received mixed reviews from critics with some praise for its unabashed, joyful sound, while others criticize the lyrics for their perceived lack of depth.
“On ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ though, love seems easy-fought. And the belief that it might actually be a breeze, instead of, like, the eye of a hurricane, makes for an album that stands as close to being an uncomplicated good time as anything she’s ever done,” writes Variety‘s Chris Willman.
“Oftentimes, an album is a really, really wild way to look at yourself,” Swift told Lowe. “What you’re going through in your life is going to affect whether you relate to the music that I’m putting out at any given moment.”
Swift also made a revealing statement about what empowers her to make music: “We’re doing this thing for keeps. I have such an eye on legacy when I’m making my music. I know what I made. I know I adore it, and I know that on the theme of what the Showgirl is, all of this is part of it.”
Swift is continuing her promotion blitz with an appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” on Oct. 8.