With 2017's gilded Reputation, Taylor Swift knowingly established herself as a capital-P pop superstar. On Lover, she took a step back and reminded us that there was a truly gifted artist at work amidst the growing media circus.

Lover is still a brightly hued pop record, of course, but this "love letter to love" is less concerned with grand, self-aware gestures and flexing Swift's stadium muscle than its predecessor. Recorded in the throes of a fresh romantic relationship, it's unapologetically sappy at times (see the magnificent, Mazzy Star-esque title track), a little bit goofy on more theatrical numbers like "I Forgot That You Existed" and "You Need To Calm Down" and almost relentlessly upbeat. It's also one of Swift's more diverse musical offerings, however, and when she swings her focus away from lovestruck swooning to not-so-mild social commentary on "Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince" and the memorably feminist "The Man" it's actually pretty stinging. There's real depth here, something that was easier to overlook on Reputation. It might be controversial to say this but -- gasp! -- Lover might be Taylor Swift's finest album to date. 

TRACKLISTING:

1. I Forgot That You Existed
2. Cruel Summer
3. Lover
4. The Man
5. The Archer
6. I Think He Knows
7. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
8. Paper Rings
9. Cornelia Street
10. Death By A Thousand Cuts
11. London Boy
12. Soon You'll Get Better (feat. The Chicks)
13. False God
14. You Need To Calm Down
15. Afterglow
16. ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco)
17. It's Nice To Have A Friend
18. Daylight