On October 3, 2025, Taylor Swift debuted her 12th studio album, receiving immediate praise as fans and critics alike determined that the production, lyrics, and vocals were all perfectly done. The sound of “The Life of a Showgirl” is unlike anything Taylor Swift has done before, and many are noticing it has the same disco-y, 70s-80s synth vibes of Sabrina Carpenter’s recent album, “Man’s Best Friend.”
Carpenter’s album was released on August 29, 2025. The overall 70s-80s, disco-y, whimsical feel of “Man’s Best Friend” helped skyrocket it into extreme popularity. Carpenter does not take herself as seriously in this album as she has in the past. Each song is fun and playful, leaning into her newfound niche that is her sensual stage persona. The album is the perfect description of the new genre that is nu-pop.
Each song includes hints of the synth-pop, new wave, and disco genres, including many synthesizers, beats you can dance to, and lyrics that are typically centered around romance. This is definition nu-pop, but when you think about it, this also perfectly describes Carpenter’s 7th studio album.
Other artists are taking on this new era as they see it rise. Take Dua Lipa for example. Her 2024 album “Radical Optimism” saw success as it reached number one album in the UK and has sold over 500,000 copies. Her world tour, the “Radical Optimism Tour” has also done really well since its takeoff in November of 2024.
Taylor Swift is also subject to spotting this trend as she takes it on and makes it her own with her new album. About half of the album is your classic nu-pop, but the other half has some experimental elements with each song. So, in other words, she is experimenting with the experimental genre.
Songs like “The Fate of Ophelia” and “Opalite” are two examples of the typical sound, as both make you want to get up and dance while listening to them on repeat for hours. The same can be said for tracks like “Wood,” “Actually Romantic,” “Father Figure,” “Honey,” and “Wi$h Li$t.”
Swift is putting her own spin on it, however, with a couple of the songs having a darker tone than the usual bubblegum-pop, 70s-80s vibes of the nu-pop genre. Her songs “CANCELLED!!” and “Elizabeth Taylor” have what fans are calling a “Reputation” vault track vibe, while still including the synth beats and intricate bass lines of the rest of the genre.
“CANCELLED!!” includes the signature suspenseful, low synth beat in the bridge that most songs on her “Reputation” album have as well. The compositions are so, so similar, and if listening blindly, you might think that it is a lost track from that album.
“Elizabeth Taylor” includes a beat drop like no other Swift has done before. The first verse has a nice pace, but it is not too fast. Then, she slows her lyrics down so that the drop has more of an effect. Listening to this song makes me want to run a million miles while playing it on repeat.
Swift goes back to her roots, however, when you take a look at the intricate songwriting of each song. The lyrics are not as shallow as people are saying they are, and if people were to actually read the lyrics and not just listen to the songs, they would see that.
Especially in the song “Ruin the Friendship,” one that sounds like it belongs on one of Swift’s earlier albums, we can see her revisit a situation she previously discussed in her song “Forever Winter.” Swift reveals that she wished she had kissed the subject of the song, Jeff Lang, but then reveals later in the song that she never got to tell him because he passed away.
Swift has publicly talked about Lang before as shortly after his death, she thanked him in an award speech. He passed away suddenly at the age of 21 in 2010, an event that was tragic for so many people in Swift’s previous high school.
The album, in total, has 12 songs and a run time of around 45 minutes. Swift also appeared on numerous talk shows, radio shows, and podcasts, most notably the “New Heights” podcast, in order to promote this album. The promotion and composition of “The Life of a Showgirl” proves that Swift can make whatever she wants, and do whatever she wants, and still come out on top and successful.
The fans helped garner 250 million streams on the album within 24 hours, breaking numerous records, and it currently sits with over 1 billion streams, over four times the initial debut. In the first week, the album sold 4 million units, and 1.334 million of those were vinyl records, breaking yet another record for sales.
Swift created this wonderful new sound for herself, while staying true to her previous sound and the image she has created for herself. She also put her own spin on nu-pop through experimenting with a darker sound. We might even see other artists including this darker sound since her inclusion of it.
This album has already done extremely well, and it has been fun to see Swift go back to her old ways of using her art to experiment. This nu-pop emergence is honestly what we have been needing, and it seems Swift and Carpenter are ready for it.