Taylor Swift - Lover

Released in August 2019, Lover was the first album Taylor Swift owned outright and the last before the pandemic sent her into the woods. It debuted at number one with the biggest opening week of any album that year and won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2020 Grammys.

Working mostly with Jack Antonoff and Joel Little, Swift traded the industrial edge of Reputation for pastel synths and something closer to warmth. "Cruel Summer" was never released as a single at the time and still became one of the biggest songs of her career four years later, on the strength of a bridge that arenas learned to scream. "The Archer" and "Death By A Thousand Cuts" are the writerly high points, "The Man" makes its argument without subtlety and is better for it, and "Soon You'll Get Better" pairs her with The Chicks for the most difficult song she had recorded to that point.

Eighteen tracks is a lot of album, and the sprawl is part of the charm. This is Swift at her most openly romantic and least defended.