After a long wait from the announcement on Aug. 12, Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album “The Life of a Showgirl” has been released. The 41 minute album contains 12 songs, with one single “The Fate of Ophelia” which has its own music video released.

Swift wrote this album during the European leg of the Eras tour, aiming to create a record that was short and sweet, a “perfect album” where it would be incomplete if any song were taken out. She comments on the relevance the album still has in her life today, still immersed in the era she was in when she wrote it. And with a new era, listeners undergo a conflict, questioning if it is indeed a good change which has taken place. This is not uncommon, these changes in tone and genre may result in an initial dislike from listeners. The transition to this era was the same.

From the beat drop of the first song, “The Fate of Ophelia,” it’s clear that this album was not written with the same melancholy fountain pen which wrote “The Tortured Poets Department,” Swift’s 11th studio album with a focus on deep, meaningful lyrics, and a slower, calmer musical quality. “The Life of a Showgirl” may even be considered a “glitter pen album,” with catchy beats that make one want to get up and start dancing. And many have begun to dance. The music video of “The Fate of Ophelia” features a dance sequence during the chorus, which many have recreated on Instagram. Swift herself also promoted the trend, calling it “‘The Fate of Ophelia’ Challenge.”

However, it is with the retirement of the fountain pen and the re-introduction of the glitter pen that listeners question whether beyond the catchy music the lyrics were lacking. For example, “Eldest Daughter,” the fifth track in the album and—in typical Taylor style—the most emotionally vulnerable, was highly anticipated. The song touched on what it was like to love as an eldest daughter, to “[dress] up as wolves” being the “first lamb to the slaughter,” acting fierce when all you want to do is be taken care of. At the same time, this was as deep as the song went on these specific themes. The song was touching and musically impressive, yet it was superficial and not lyrically strong.

However, many songs were more serious, or at the very least more meaningful. In “Father Figure,” Swift touches on the topic of loyalty and betrayal, where the betrayer “pulled the wrong trigger” but she “protect[ed] the family.” In “Actually Romantic,” she addresses the feeling of “…realizing that someone else has kind of had a one-sided, adversarial relationship with you that you didn’t know about.” Swift mocks those who hate on her, claiming that the haters are more interested in her than her lovers, and taking that as flattery. “Ruin the Friendship” took an even sadder turn as she mourned the loss of an old high school crush, wondering what would happen if she had confessed.

Many songs were just upbeat and catchy, capturing what it is like to be in love. “Opalite” and “Wi$h Li$t” were like this. In the latter song, Swift remarks that being in love got her “drеaming ’bout a driveway with a basketball hoop.” In “Honey,” she comments on her insecurities, saying that love redefined all of the condescending or mean names she had been called in the past.

There isn’t anything inherently wrong about a glitter pen album, just because the lyrics are not deep enough. Reflected in many other Eras, we see pop hits that sound great, even if the lyrics are just fun but not necessarily deep. Take, for example, “22” or “Welcome to New York” from the “Red” and “1989” albums respectfully. Both of these songs are simply fun to listen to and dance to, upbeat songs that we sit and enjoy without need to overanalyze.

“The Life of a Showgirl” is the epitome of an upbeat, happy album. It is fun to listen to, even on the tenth replay. In these 12 songs, Swift brings a catchy tracklist, with every song having the potential to “stick” in a listener’s brain. Transitions throughout each song are never jarring, and each bridge is stronger than ever. It’s an album about loving and being loved, finding happiness after so much heartbreak, an album with glitter sprinkled throughout. This sparkly album can shine on its own.