The strangest thing happened this weekend. The online service that distributes music to me for reviewing—a service which almost exclusively send me alt-country, blues, jazz, and other genres that could use a little online support—sent me the new Taylor Swift release. I could hardly believe it. Surely this is an artist who doesn’t need a few hundred readers to discover her. What the heck, I thought. Let’s give it a listen. After all, I remember the first time I ever listened to a Taylor Swift album. It was in October or November 2006, when the Big Machine label swung an interview for me with their newest young country hopeful, Taylor Swift, in support of her debut album. The very brief “phoner” took place when I was on a tour bus, being driven somewhere between here and there, somewhere in the free-time between load-out and load-in. It was a spectacular debut, and if I remember correctly, it was titled, simply and clearly, Taylor Swift. The name was still a blank slate at that point—ready to establish herself as a formidable singer/songwriter—and the questions I asked were fairly general. The usual questions… who influenced your music? how do you decide what to write about? what are your hopes for this album? will you go on tour to promote the album? are you writing any new songs for a future album? That brief interview was for a now-defunct website that disappeared years ago (drat!), so I cannot quote any of her breezy answers. But I do recall we spent most of the time talking about growing up loving country music, the honesty of writing on an acoustic guitar, and country singer Tim McGraw. Ah, yes, you remember that Taylor Swift, don’t you?

Fast forward to today, where Ms. Swift is a genre all her own. Talk about staying power. She has grown in all directions, reaching—no, not reaching, establishing—artistic heights unimagined in 2006. Her new release is evidence of just why she is the stratospheric artist that more than any other represents a generation of music-loving, concert-going, super-willing partners in the brand. They love her music, and she delivers. If this album is any indication, it just might be the other way around, with Taylor Swift delivering and the world loving her music. It is adulation well-earned, and the new songs continue to prove that Taylor Swift doesn’t just put product out to fulfill anyone’s expectations other than her own elevated standards.

The music of The Life Of A Showgirl is playful and upbeat, and yet it is delivered with lyrics that are almost blush-inducing in their confessional honesty. Song after song proves that superb production values only result in more sophisticated material. These songs are sung by a transcendent, liberated, empowered narrator. No doubt this album will only become more affective with each repeated listening. I can’t wait to find out.

Note to Ms. Swift’s label representative: Any chance to get a second brief interview? It’s been almost 20 years… and I promise that I’d save a copy of this one, in case the internet disappears! Love, an OG Swiftie.