I’ve been a Swiftie for as long as I can remember. 

From her debut country project to her pop era and indie-folk albums, I’ve been a fan and a critic during her journey into stardom. Everything she’s gone through, from Kanye West to multiple boyfriends, I have observed, and I have stayed a fan even though many people made fun of me for doing so.

With her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” she positions herself as a timeless performer for the masses. Resembling the feeling she had during The Eras Tour and her new love for Travis Kelce, she tries to replicate that emotion throughout the entire album. 

I was very excited about this new project. Leaving previous producers like Jack Antonoff and leaning on the people that helped her turn toward the pop scene, I was intrigued since that era of hers had some of my favorite songs in her ever-growing catalogue. A return to classical pop music is what a leading woman should be doing to claim her seniority in the genre, and I supported it wholeheartedly … until I heard the album.

As I went down the tracklist, there’s only one thing that I can confidently say it is: hot garbage. 

This is the worst album she’s had. Her lyrics sound like unseasoned chicken breast, and her music production sounds like a copy of something we’ve already heard from other artists, which many people have already identified. 

Yes, it’s pop, but it’s the worst kind of pop music. It’s the music you hear in the mall and then walk out to avoid hearing the song. Or, when you’re sitting at a sports game, it’s the music that makes you wonder how long it would take until they switch it to something else. 

As much as I love Swift’s music, I understand that I’m not her target audience. There’ve been many albums that I haven’t related to but have acknowledged the power they have because they are incredibly relatable to others. But, this is another realm of bad — it sounds and feels like a disappointment. 

And she didn’t stop there; she decided to release a movie during its opening weekend in theaters to accompany this horrid piece of music. 

Actually, a “movie” might be an overexaggeration of what this is. Essentially, it’s a behind-the-scenes look at her “The Fate of Ophelia” music video, along with brief interviews explaining her thought process behind each song on the album and a lyric video for each song. It’s not a movie or a concert like she’s previously released in theaters — it’s something in the middle. 

Now, the movie isn’t terrible — I did, in fact, watch it — but it doesn’t belong in theaters. As a self-proclaimed cinephile, I have a deep respect for preserving the sanctity of the theatrical experience, and this isn’t it. This probably looks best on YouTube or Disney+, or maybe in minute-long Instagram Reels. While I did enjoy it myself, it doesn’t deserve a $15 ticket price to see in theaters. 

Obviously, this is all a cash grab. Swift gets to put out low-quality material while profiting off of us, the fans, who are forced to pay even more if we wish to see her. If she really cared about her fans, she would make her work accessible to everyone, not make people drive to the theater to watch a “non-movie.”

But this sentiment has become a trend with her. “Taylor Swift fatigue” has been felt by many since the release of her last album, with fans and non-fans alike getting tired of hearing her name and her new music when it doesn’t match the quality of her previous work. 

The album is terrible, so this was the breaking point for many to turn away from her for the time being and attack her whole career. 

Seeing her face every day on social media for her Eras Tour over the past couple of years takes a toll, just like seeing her name on television every time the Kansas City Chiefs play while she’s watching Kelce. There’s too much of her; add that feeling with the lack of quality she’s putting out, and the solution you’ll find is a public outcry against her. 

She needs to take a page out of Marvel’s script. 

After the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” fans were incredibly excited to see what was to come in the cinematic universe. However, what Marvel decided to do was release a movie or TV show that not only lacked the quality of its previous movies, but was also released in too quick a time frame. It was too much too quick, and there wasn’t enough substance in each project to cling to for audiences to care. 

While I loved some projects during this time period, like “Eternals” and “The Marvels,” there are many that didn’t stick with me and made me fall out of love with Marvel. 

Learning from their mistakes, they have now decided to reel back on the overwhelming production of films, put quality into them and release them slowly, allowing people to digest and appreciate a film before moving on to the next. 

Audiences are willing to wait for something if it’s going to be the best version of it. 

So Taylor, please, take a break. It’s OK if we go a year without hearing music from you; we have enough to work with right now. Take some time, get married to Travis and think about what you want to do with your life. Make something with quality, not just for the sake of making music. 

It’s fine if we have to wait a while for it, because what you’ve done with this album should really get you “CANCELLED!” for how bad it is. 

Joshua Abraham is a kinesiology senior and opinion columnist for The Battalion.