By Gionna Bean, Opinion Editor
Taylor Swift at the Gala on Oct. 17 – Photo by Billboard
Taylor Swift returned to the stage over the weekend, performing two songs for the first time live at the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles on Oct. 17. The songs were “I Knew It, I Knew You,” her original song for Toy Story 5, along with “The Fate of Ophelia,” a hit from this summer.
The performance comes just weeks after Swift released The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, an expanded version of her 2025 album featuring four new songs: “Cleveland!,” “Patient Zero,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon” on Sept. 25. While releasing new songs is certainly keeping Swift in the public eye, the decision has reignited a debate among listeners: Is she actually evolving as an artist, or is she slowly losing touch?
Swift performing at the sixth annual Academy Museum Gala – Photo by ELLE Newspaper
Reactions among students have been mixed. Some see the additional tracks as an exciting opportunity to hear more from their favorite artist, while others question whether she is putting music out solely to stay relevant.
“I think her new music lacks the relatability and realness that made people like her old stuff like 1989 and the albums before it,” junior Trista Cridler said. Cridler added that Swift should consider taking a break from releasing music until she has something more meaningful to say, suggesting that her commercial success may have left her with fewer new perspectives to explore.
This criticism points to one of the biggest challenges facing an artist with a career as long and successful as Swift’s. Much of her early appeal came from her ability to write about heartbreak in ways that made listeners feel understood, but that dug a hole that is hard to get out of.
There is only so much a musician can write about heartbreak before their entire discography feels repetitive. The concern is not necessarily that Swift has changed, but that her newer songwriting does not always carry the same emotional honesty associated with her earlier work.
However, not everyone views The Encore as an unnecessary addition. Supporters argue that releasing new tracks gives listeners another reason to revisit the original album and offers a glimpse into Swift’s creative process.
“It was the best thing she could have done to revive the album,” senior Gretchen Stivers said. From this perspective, the additional songs keep the project in the conversation and give fans more material to interpret, discuss and connect with.
This discussion also raises questions about the expectations placed on successful musicians. Swift has spent years building a devoted audience that closely examines her lyrics, searches for hidden meanings and connects songs to events in her personal life.
That level of attention can be a major advantage, but it can also make each new release a test of whether she can meet the expectations created by her previous work. Long-time listeners will always be searching for the same rush of newness and excitement from the songs they first heard.
Overall, The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore reopens the door to the conversation about what listeners should and should not expect from such a seasoned artist. Whether The Encore is a worthwhile extension of Swift’s discography or evidence that she would benefit from a creative pause depends largely on what each listener values most in her music.
