- Taylor Swift’s new album “Lover” was released on August 23, and has received much high praise.
- Swift received 10 nominations at this year’s VMAs, while her video for “You Need to Calm Down” won both “video of the year” and “video for good.”
- But not everyone has been impressed, and the album has received some criticism for being too long and uneven in quality.
- The Independent’s Alexandra Pollard gave the album four stars, and Swift shared a snippet of her review of Instagram calling it a “brilliant album.” Although this isn’t exactly what it said.
- “There is a brilliant album among the 18 songs, if only it had been pruned a little,” Pollard wrote. “But Swift has never been one to hold back, and it’s hard to resent her for it.”
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Taylor Swift’s new album “Lover” was released on August 23, and immediately blew up on streaming services and social media. (Her 11th track, “London Boy,” stirred a particularly strong reaction.)
Swift received 10 nominations at this year’s VMAs, while her video for “You Need to Calm Down” won both “video of the year” and “video for good.”
The album has had it critics, who have suggested it’s a bit long (it has 18 songs in total) and “a mixed bag.”
However, many have praised it as a light and fun record on which almost everyone can find a song they enjoy.
Swift shared some of her favorite reviews on her Instagram, including Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone calling it a "career-topping masterpiece" and Quinn Moreland at Pitchfork saying it was "a return to vulnerability and romance."
One snippet of a review by Alexandra Pollard at the Independent said "Lover" was "a brilliant album."
http://instagr.am/p/B1rzG_zDehm
However, Pollard revealed on Twitter that this wasn't exactly what she said.
"There is a brilliant album among the 18 songs, if only it had been pruned a little." But close enough! pic.twitter.com/arFcniauhp
— Alexandra Pollard (@alexjpollard) August 28, 2019
In her review, Pollard said "Lover" starts to feel "baggy" by track 14.
"There is a brilliant album among the 18 songs, if only it had been pruned a little," she wrote. "But Swift has never been one to hold back, and it's hard to resent her for it."
While it's certainly not an insult, cherry-picking Pollard's words to make it sound like she praised the album as "brilliant" seems a little disingenuous.
When contacted by Insider, Pollard didn't have much to say on the matter, except that she thought it was "quite funny."
Representatives for Swift didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
It's long been a marketing trick to cut and edit reviewer's words to make what they said seem more complimentary.
For instance, in 2015, Benjamin Lee gave Tom Hardy's "Legend" about the Kray twins two stars, because he found it "disappointingly shallow" and "cartoonish."
But you wouldn't know it from a glance at the poster.
"Incredible way of making my two star review seem like I didn't hate the film," Lee wrote on Twitter, showing readers his two-star review was cleverly sandwiched between the heads of Hardy's two characters.
"There's something maddeningly brilliant about this promotional sleight of hand," Lee wrote in the Guardian at the time. "Technically, there's nothing dishonest about the use of my rating. I gave it two stars and there are just two stars on display. I've been trolled and I'm totally alright with it."
