For nearly three years, Taylor Swift fans and average listeners alike have waited for a new album from Swift. When it seemed country-turned-pop musician had completely obscured herself from media and society, there was a small hint of action. Actually, a lack of action. All of her media sites… including her website, her Instagram, and her twitter were blank. No photo. No bio. No posts. Just name. That’s it. The storm was only on the horizon.

Suddenly, the news exploded with coverage of Swift’s publicity stunt as ‘blank spaces’ turned into a cryptic video of a snake’s tail. What was Swift up to? In a few days, we all figured it out. The first image of a snake lapsed into a full video across her Instagram featuring an animated, scale-y snake with beady eyes, along with a message that spelled out a new single for the following (Thursday) night and an album planned for November 10th. It’s title? Reputation.

Rumors filled the web, as die-hard Swifties preached their hopes, predictions, and secrets they discovered through sleuthing. Questions still fluttered through the media. Were the songs any good? Concert dates? What was the new single about? Or more significantly… who?

Last night, half of America seemed to hold their breath. Music apps began to lag from the overload and were prone to glitch when Taylor Swift was typed into the search bar. Then, it was born. On Taylor’s Instagram, she posted to her story one last video of the slithering snake captioned, “Get ‘Look What You Made Me Do’, Swipe Up” And swipe up I did. Enter the new Swift Era. She’s not country, not cheery pop, no… she’s just MAD.

Taylor Swift hasn’t had the best relationships with celebrities these last few years. There was the Kim Kardashian clash, the Kanye West debacle, a few stabs at Justin Bieber, a breakup with her memorable squad, and the everlasting feud with Katy Perry. The song addressed it all. After one listen, it’s clear Swift wants the world to know one thing. The old Swift is gone. The new one is here to stay. And apparently all of her opponents are to blame.

Now, when I listened to the song, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of uneasiness go through my stomach. When I was young, I admired Taylor Swift. I spent summers listening to her acoustic albums featuring hits like “Our Song” and “You Belong With Me”. I was even happy with “Shake It Off”, “Blank Space”, and her departure from the country genre. I’ve always felt Taylor Swift was inspiring. She didn’t hate on her haters, she overcame them. In “Mean”, she addressed a rude reporter and identified how she would move on without his filthy impression. In “Shake It Off”, she inspired us all to ‘shake off’ the pain and the hurt through a pleasant beat and dance moves. While “Bad Blood” was clearly a shot fired at her opposers, she still had others at her side. Now, she’s alone, dark, and brooding. It makes me a little depressed, and feels like she finally submitted to all of the rivals, which is seemingly now… everyone. And as she says in her newest single, “The old Taylor Swift can’t get to the phone right now… why?… because she’s dead.” Umm, this doesn’t feel super inspiring, maybe I’m misreading it?

Nevertheless, Taylor Swift’s song is kind of good. It’s chanty, as her tunes normally are, and will be fun to memorize. It’s also an impeccable workout song, as it really empowers you with a sort of rogue and raw sense of confidence. However, it still sounds over-produced, and her voice is capable of so much more than being hidden behind intense percussion. I guess… I just expected more, especially after three years. Not some diss-track that complains and makes her really seem like a snake.

In the end though, I have to give props to Swift’s power to market her newest single and album. The whole social media scheme was brilliant, and drew the attention of fans and news stations across the globe. Lots of listeners didn’t notice the unpublicized marketing strategy of Swift. Before the drop, Katy Perry’s new music video was planning a release Thursday night as well. Justin Bieber and Luis Fonsi were just a few days from hitting the most weeks at #1 with their hit “Despacito”. Bieber and Fonsi did end up breaking the record and Perry’s video still attracted viewers, but without a doubt, Swift was attempting to draw attention from them to her.

Like the new song or not, Taylor Swift’s new single is out. She’s back, and won’t be leaving the radio for months.

Want to get to know the new Taylor? Head to https://taylorswift.com/

Planning on attending her show? https://tickets.taylorswift.com/