SHOULD WE PANIC FOR THE FUTURE OF TAYLOR SWIFT'S MUSIC? REVIEW OF 'ME!' BY TAYLOR SWIFT FT BRENDON URIE

Ever since she posted the countdown 13 days ago, it seems like everyone has been waiting with bated breath to see what the new era of Taylor Swift was going to sound like. 'ME!' was released this morning, with an unexpected feature from Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco and it's certainly been a little controversial.

'ME!' is the definition of a radio-ready pop song and is certainly not the type of song I would associate with Panic! At The Disco, but somehow Brendon Urie fits in really well to the track in general. The chorus is outstandingly catchy; we're talking catchy to the point where after two listens I found myself humming it around the house. The message of the song is essentially about self-love and knowing that nobody else can love your partner like you, which means that this is a happy track with happy lyrics too. Often, Swift tends to go for a really happy sounding track and then somehow break you with the lyrics, but 'ME!' is just all round wholesome fun, as shown by the colourful (and a little bit insane) music video.
Many have likened it to Justin Timberlake's 'Can't Stop The Feeling' and have guessed it might be associated with some sort of kids film, and I understand where that comes from. That is the sort of sound that comes across in 'ME!' However, not every wholesome happy track has to be for a kids movie, some can just be released because, well, why not?
It is a smart move to have Brendon Urie on the track as not only is his most recent track 'High Hopes', another wholesome and happy song, a worldwide success but it opens Taylor Swift up to a whole other demographic. The same demographic that probably hated her when they were 14. Swift is someone who is very aware of the type of people that don't like her, and she does what she can to change that.
'ME!' is a far cry from the releases from Reputation, and this is almost definitely completely intentional. Naming the track 'ME!' shows that Swift is done with talking about her dark and twisted reputation and is ready to start talking about the real her; which apparently involves lots of glitter and butterflies.

I get why some critics and fans alike are a little disappointed. After the edgy and powerful sounds of reputation, people had very high expectations, and for Swift to come out with a radio-guaranteed fairly basic pop song left people wondering where the deep and meaningful Swift had gone. However, I will come to Swift's defense a little bit here.
'Shake it Off' is (arguably) one of Taylor Swift's least liked songs among fans and critics, yet it was the lead single for the album 1989 that many consider being Swift's absolute best. The same goes for 'We Are Never Getting Back Together' and the album RED, and even to an extent with 'Look What You Made Me Do' and Reputation. This is what she does. Taylor Swift pulls in the general public by releasing relatively simple, but extraordinarily catchy and radio designed songs as her lead single, and it is the second and third singles that are generally deeper and more representative of the album as a whole. She wants people talking about her, and aware she's making new music before she really goes in with the ones the critics and fans will adore.

So sure, as far as basic pop songs go, 'ME!' will be an absolute hit. However, it's important to keep more of a closer eye on her next releases, as they will no doubt be more representative of what's to come. After the lack of award recognition for Reputation and the message of that album in general, I have no doubt that Taylor Swift is intending to come back with the best album of her career, and we'll see if she can pull it off.

Written by Ruby Crowhurst.