Issue 12: Exercises in Anti-perfectionism
Reviewing Taylor Swift's new album, plus a few more!
Welcome back to Band Practice, where I listen to a new album every day and write about my favorites. Disclaimer: I’m sending this issue out a few weeks later than I would have liked, but let me share one of the reasons. I had a different pick of the week (LUCI’s Juvenilia EP) for this issue but, after seeing her share things on her Instagram in support of Kanye West, I no longer want to give her a spotlight. So, I have rewritten this issue and have chosen to focus on Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights. If that’s not your thing, I have three other brief reviews of albums I think you’ll love: Stumpwork from Dry Cleaning, Revealer from Madison Cunningham, and Into The Blue from the Broken Bells. Let’s get started!
Intro
Perfectionism is the enemy of creativity. I realized this, finally, as I went to write this issue. Let me back up. I often get in my head about doing things, especially when it’s something creative like writing. Part of the reason I get stuck in my head is my own perfectionism. It’s hard to start a project when I’m not certain that I’ll be able to do it to my own high standards. The result is writer’s block, which I got stuck in trying to write this. I tried a few different things to get unstuck, but they didn’t work. Then I remembered a TikTok I saw about “process art.”
I linked the video below, but the gist is that you do this painting exercise to help get out of your head and just create for the sake of creating. You choose a color and a shape and paint it on a canvas or paper or whatever. Then you paint more of those. Then you add more colors or draw over it or whatever you want to do with it until you feel like you’re done.
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So, I tried it and it helped. I would be lying to say that I wasn’t judging myself on how “good” my circles were while I was doing it, but at some point something clicked for me. What I was making at that moment didn't have to be “art.” It didn’t have to be “good.” What I made was just the representation of a process, and that’s okay—it brought me joy.
It was then that I realized that art is about the process and not the attempt to achieve perfection. (Duh, right?) Perfectionism is a creativity killer because it doesn’t allow you to find joy in the messy process of creating—it shuns it. Painters paint, writers write, and musicians make music because they’re working something out. The messiness and mistakes are a (perhaps crucial) part of that. Embracing the messiness gives creativity life. If you set out to make something perfect, you’ll struggle to make something authentic. But if you create for the love of the creating, that’s where the magic is.
Pick of the week
Midnights — Taylor Swift
Pop
It may surprise some to know that I was late to Taylor Swift fandom. I hadn’t heard much of her early albums except for what was played on the radio. (Swifties1 know that those aren’t even her best songs.) I’m ashamed to admit that the first album I listened to in full was 1989—but not her version…the Ryan Adams cover version (I know, cringe). That album opened my eyes to how great of a songwriter she is. Since then, Swift’s sound has taken twists and turns, and I haven’t loved all of it. But I became a card-carrying Swiftie with Folklore. The album took a new, folkier, direction and the results were phenomenal. In Midnights Swift reverses course, returning to a pop sound and—while I hope we haven’t seen the last of folky Taylor Swift—I’m here for it. Swift proves that she is still the master of writing a perfect pop song and an exceptional storyteller, all in this glittering gem of an album.
There is a certain magic to a Taylor Swift album—one that allows you to disconnect from your body for a bit and get lost in the music. As one of the best-selling artists of all time, with 11 Grammys under her belt, it is clear that her magic is far-reaching. There is plenty of it to be found on Midnights. Her best tricks are all there, like making writing a catchy hook seem easy, and writing songs so relatable they feel like they were pulled from your own journal—coaxing you to sing along to thoughts you would otherwise be too shy to say aloud.
Midnights possesses a very “of the moment” sound. Many of the songs are decked out with studio-crafted beats and pitched-down vocal effects that can be found on albums of other pop chanteuses like Billie Eilish and Lorde. There are dimensional layers of instrumentation with synths and organs weaving their way through the tracks and—AND—a mellotron!!! (A friend recently told me about this instrument and I was irrationally elated to find it mentioned in the liner notes.) Overall, it’s a more alt-pop feel than her other albums, but there are a few tracks that feel like they’re still tethered to her Folklore/Evermore chapter like “Snow On The Beach” and “Sweet Nothing.”
Swift describes Midnights as a concept album in which she tells stories of “13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.”2 Some of her songs are a revisitation of past themes and experiences covered on previous albums. But as seasoned fans know, it sometimes takes Swift several songs (or albums!) to process a single experience (see "The Moment I Knew" and "All Too Well").
There are a lot of ways I could break down the songs on this album3, but I’m going to go by Swift’s own categorizations. During an acceptance speech4 at the Nashville Songwriter Awards last month, she revealed that she approaches her songwriting using three different modes or genres of lyrics: Quill, Fountain Pen, and Glitter Gel Pen lyrics. (It's a bit twee, I know.) The genres reflect the type of pen she imagines herself using when writing a song. She describes her Quill songs as containing antiquated wording or phrasing. The Fountain Pen genre uses a, “modern storyline or references, with a poetic twist,” often including vivid details and descriptions of a situation. By contrast, Glitter Gel pen lyrics are not to be taken seriously. They are, “frivolous, carefree, bouncy, syncopated perfectly to the beat.” So, let’s take a look at a song from each of these genres and one outlier that I could live without.
(Note: the categorizations are taken from Swift’s own hand-curated playlists of each genre exclusive to Apple Music. You can listen to them here: Quill, Fountain Pen, Glitter Gel Pen.)
Anti-hero (Quill)
“Anti-hero” is a perfect pop song. It’s offensive how good it is. It has relatable lyrics, a hook so catchy it’s meme-able (“it's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me”), and an amazing 30 Rock reference to boot (“sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby and I’m a monster on the hill”). It’s an anthem for the insecure, full of clever lines like, “I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror.” The rhyming scheme in the pre-chorus is so tight it literally5 makes me want to start breaking things: “I should not be left to my own devices, they come with prices and vices, I end up in crisis.” Love!
In style, it seems like a stretch to fit in the Quill genre, with its only antiquated references being “teatime” or “pierced through the heart”... unless the 30 Rock reference is considered antiquated (ack! kill me!). “Snow On The Beach” or “Mastermind” better fit the genre. Musically, it’s on point using pulsating synths and layers of mellotron samples to rejigger the self-loathing lyrical energy into something downright bop-able. And the occasional breaks and fry in her voice give it extra charm. It’s one of Swift’s favorite songs that she’s written6, and it’s now one of my favorites, too.
Maroon (Fountain Pen)
“Maroon” is quintessential Swift storytelling. Like many of her best songs in this genre, it tells a succinct story and is loaded with imagery. The lyrics are full of vibrant colors and details told over a slightly dark and spooky musical motif—with twisty distorted guitar adding ribbons of flavor. It can be seen as a companion to the song “Red” (from her album of the same name) on a few levels: they are both stories about love that falls apart, and they use similar colors to tell a story. Swift uses rapid-fire imagery to paint a vivid picture.
“Looked up at the sky and it was the burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine into me, and how the blood rushed into my cheeks—so scarlet, it was. The mark thеy saw on my collarbone, the rust that grew bеtween telephones, the lips I used to call home—so scarlet, it was maroon.”
It’s color theory in a chorus!
Bejeweled (Glitter Gel Pen)
“Bejeweled” is classic radio bait—it’s a catchy, easy listen that makes you want to turn it up when you hear it. It is the kind of song that I’m afraid to “favorite” on Apple Music because it will throw off my algorithm, but I (not so) secretly enjoy it. Its carefree frivolity makes it a bonafide Glitter Gel Pen song. “Best believe I'm still bejeweled when I walk in the room I can still make the whole place shimmer,” she sings in the chorus. The instrumentation is glittery enough to match. Staccato electro-beeps make it sound sufficiently Swarovskied, yet somehow not feeling too over the top.
I question whether Swift has outgrown this kind of song, but I won’t scold her for having some fun. It is a welcomed light point amongst a roster of songs that feel a little darker.
Vigilante Shit
“Vigilante Shit” wasn’t on any of Swift’s “pen genre” Apple Music playlists. Which makes sense because it’s kind of the odd duck of the album. If anything, I’d put it under the “Glitter Gel Pen” category, because it seems frivolous, but it seems out of place entirely—perhaps better belonging on Reputation. The sound feels like it’s pulled from Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep… and doesn’t feel like Swift. In one of the verses she sings, “and I don't dress for villains or for innocents, I'm on my vigilante shit again.” I’m not sold on the concept! I’m not convinced she’s done any vigilante shit. Are there things you’re not telling us, Taylor?? Let us know if you need help! Though there are far fewer skippable tracks on this album than some of her past albums, my skippin’ finger gets twitchy when this song starts to play.
Is Midnights Taylor Swift’s strongest album? No. Is it Grammy worthy? We won’t know until 2024! But there is something bewitching about it that keeps pulling me back to listen to it over and over again. Maybe it’s her magic that has me coming back, or maybe she’s a mastermind.
Also available on Apple Music
Three more exceptional albums
Stumpwork — Dry Cleaning
Alternative
I didn’t think I would ever lose my shit over a song about a tortoise (in a good way), but that’s the kind of thing that Dry Cleaning’s songs make me do. Stumpwork is only the second studio album from the London-based post-punk quartet, but it has so much charm and effortless polish, you would think that they have been doing this forever. Lead singer Florence Shaw brings a nonchalance to her almost spoken word vocalizations. It gives the feeling of a phone conversation with a friend who rattles off about various things that may or may not be related to one another.
Dry Cleaning’s lyrics are full of quirk and humor, often stopping you in you in your tracks with a silly turn of phrase. “My shoe organising thing arrived, thank God,” Shaw exclaims in the opening track. And, of course, there’s the endearing song “Gary Ashby” about a lost family tortoise. “Have you seen Gary with his tinfoil ball? He used to love to kick it with his stumpy legs.” It has almost too much charm with a few “shoop shoops” for its bridge, calling to mind the gentle shuffling of tortoise feet.
While you will most certainly be keeping your focus on Shaw’s lyrics, there are plenty of interesting things happening musically like the crackling percussion in “Anna Calls From The Arctic” and tangy guitars in the title track. All in all, it is a fantastic album that is just as strong (if not more so) than their critically acclaimed debut album of last year (New Long Leg). And FWIW, it rivals number of times I’ve played Midnights.
Also available on Apple Music, bandcamp
Revealer — Madison Cunningham
Singer/Songwriter
If you don’t know who Madison Cunningham is, you soon will. I mean, obviously very soon because I’m telling you right now, but also because she is destined to be big. Cunningham is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who has crafted her own blend of Americana, folk, and rock. With two Grammy nominations for previous albums already under her belt, Revealer could well earn her a third one.
Cunningham’s sound on Revealer is like a Vulcan mind-meld between Bonnie Raitt and Joni Mitchell. She has Raitt’s ability to write a bluesy belt-able rock song and bring the heat to a guitar, and Mitchell’s intuitively poetic lyricism. Two songs that best encompass this range are “Hospital” and “Life According To Raechel.” “Hospital” rocks and grooves with Cunningham’s fiery guitar. There’s power in her voice as she wails and lands the punch-line, “I am always one man down and fed up.” And then there’s “Life According To Raechel,” a beautiful waltz of a song. The sky is actually bluer when you listen to it. It feels like Joni Mitchell could have written it and even interpolates a line of her lyrics from “Both Sides Now.” “Busy hands, I'll set 'em down, to say I love you right out loud.” Get through it without crying, I dare you!
Revealer is the kind of album that will have you running to see her perform it live. (I was heartbroken to find out that she played here in Portland the exact day before I listened to the album. Rude.) It has a presence and life that is too big to be contained by recorded medium.
Also available on Apple Music, bandcamp
INTO THE BLUE — Broken Bells
Alternative
I didn’t think I would end up writing about the same artist twice in this newsletter, but it happened! I wrote about Cheat Codes—the album Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) made with with Black Thought—a few issues ago. Broken Bells is Burton’s collaboration with The Shins frontman James Mercer and Into the Blue is the third album they’ve released together. Into the Blue pulls many of the same tricks used in his other projects. Burton coaxes whole worlds out of a single sample while Mercer’s voice is the trusty gps system navigating them all. The result is—like the previous two albums—less an album of single-able songs (although there are a few strong contenders) but a continuous vibe. It’s an album that you play to set a mood. For me, it makes me feel like I’m at a 1970s dinner party at a mid-century modern ranch-style home that has shag carpeting and an exquisite record collection. That kind of mood.
The opening track, “Into the Blue” makes its entrance like a wave crashing on the shore. And that’s kind of how the album feels. There are no sudden movements. Each track is another gentle wave taking its time to unfurl. As always, Burton curates just the right samples to maintain the vibe. In “Saturdays” a lively strum of a guitar gives off a “The Who-ish” energy making it feel like a “light a candle and see your future” moment à la Almost Famous. “Forgotten Boy” has a classic Danger Mouse sound with a twangy guitar sample (“Sometimes I Think About” by The Blues Magoos) that seems like a call-back to samples in Cheat Codes and Lux Prima. There are some drags and lulls, and “Fade Away” does just that, but overall I’d gladly return to this 1970s soirée.
Also available on Apple Music, bandcamp
26 more albums I listened to
CYBERKISS* — BLACKSTARKIDS (Alternative)
Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam — The Comet Is Coming (Electronic)
Some of Us Are Brave — Danielle Ponder (Alternative)
Cool It Down — Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Alternative)
Fossora — Björk (Electronic)
Autumn Eve — Julie Odell (Alternative)
Juvenilia (EP) — LUCI (Hip-Hop/Rap)
I Love You Jennifer B — Jockstrap (Alternative)
The Sun Still Seems to Move — Shannen Moser (Folk)
Doggerel — Pixies (Alternative)
CHARLIE — Charlie Puth (Pop)
SUCKERPUNCH — chloe moriondo (Pop)
Like That — Cool Sounds (Rock)
<COPINGMECHANISM> — WILLOW (Rock)
Cherry — Daphni (Electronic)
Blue Rev — Alvvays (Alternative)
Topical Dancer — Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul (Electronica)
Dirt Femme — Tove Lo (Pop)
MATA — M.I.A. (Electronic)
Being Funny In a Foreign Language — The 1975 (Alternative)
All Blue — Julianna Riolino (Americana)
YTI⅃AƎЯ — Bill Callahan (Alternative)
FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE — Brian Eno
BIG! — Betty Who (Pop)
Sequana — Souad Massi (Worldwide)
COMETA — Nick Hakim (Alternative)
The playlist!
These are my favorite songs off of each new album I listened to this year listed in chronological order of listening. The playlist is looong so, if you want to hear the songs from the albums in this issue, scroll to the end. I update the playlist with every issue.
365 Albums in 2022 - Apple Music playlist
365 Albums in 2022 - Spotify playlist
Thanks for reading! For the next issue, I’ll be listening to albums from Lainey Wilson, Cavetown, and Phoenix, among others. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it!
What have you been listening to lately? Anything good? Let me know in the comments.
The affectionate name given to her fans
Quote taken from artist’s message accompanying the Apple Music version of the album.
I’m focusing on the original version of the album for this review instead of the 3am version. The extra tracks on 3am version aren’t super memorable. “High Infidelity” is probably the most loveable song of the bunch.
Don’t—don’t be that person. Let me have this.
Awesome write up! I totally relate to the perfectionism, and also discovering TS via 1989 and folklore.
What did you think of Fossora? I honestly couldn’t even make it through once. I was a hardcore Bjork fan in the 90s, but she has definitely lost me along the way..