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== Background and release ==
== Background and release ==
Swift started working on [[The Tortured Poets Department|''The Tortured Poets Department'']] immediately after she submitted her tenth studio album, ''[[Midnights]]'', to [[Republic Records]] for release in 2022. She continued working on it in secrecy throughout the US leg of [[the Eras Tour]] in 2023.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Blistein |first=Jon |date=February 7, 2024 |title=Taylor Swift Reveals ''Tortured Poets Department'' Back Up Plan In Case She Didn't Win a Grammy |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-backup-plan-tokyo-1234963303/ |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207163624/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-backup-plan-tokyo-1234963303/ |archive-date=February 7, 2024 |access-date=April 19, 2024 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> The album's conception took place when Swift's personal life continued to be a widely covered topic in the press.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last=Sisario |first=Ben |author-link=Ben Sisario |date=2024-04-19 |title=Taylor Swift's ''Tortured Poets'' Arrives With a Promotional Blitz |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/arts/music/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422193932/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/arts/music/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department.html |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |access-date=2024-04-19 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language= |issn=}}</ref> She described ''The Tortured Poets Department'' as her "lifeline" album which she "really needed" to make.<ref name=":022">{{Cite magazine |last=Bonner |first=Mehera |date=February 16, 2024 |title=Taylor Swift Reveals Bonus Track Title and New Album Cover for ''The Tortured Poets Department'' |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a46813336/taylor-swift-the-bolter/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216224610/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a46813336/taylor-swift-the-bolter/ |archive-date=February 16, 2024 |access-date=April 19, 2024 |magazine=[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]}}</ref> Republic Records released it on April 19, 2024; "The Alchemy" is 15th on the track list.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 19, 2024 |title=As ''The Tortured Poets Department'' drops, here's all Taylor Swift's albums ranked by sales |url=https://www.musicweek.com/talent/read/as-the-tortured-poets-department-drops-here-s-all-taylor-swift-s-albums-ranked-by-sales/089645 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419095336/https://www.musicweek.com/talent/read/as-the-tortured-poets-department-drops-here-s-all-taylor-swift-s-albums-ranked-by-sales/089645 |archive-date=April 19, 2024 |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=[[Music Week]]}}</ref> Swift performed an acoustic guitar rendition at the May 12, 2024 concert in [[Paris|Paris, France]] as part of [[the Eras Tour]], which [[Travis Kelce]] attended.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Iasimone |first=Ashley |date=2023-04-24 |title=All the Surprise Songs Taylor Swift Has Performed on The Eras Tour (So Far) |url=https://www.billboard.com/lists/taylor-swift-eras-tour-surprise-songs/ |access-date=2023-04-29 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref>
Swift started working on [[The Tortured Poets Department|''The Tortured Poets Department'']] immediately after she submitted her tenth studio album, ''[[Midnights]]'', to [[Republic Records]] for release in 2022. She continued working on it in secrecy throughout the US leg of [[the Eras Tour]] in 2023.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Blistein |first=Jon |date=February 7, 2024 |title=Taylor Swift Reveals ''Tortured Poets Department'' Back Up Plan In Case She Didn't Win a Grammy |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-backup-plan-tokyo-1234963303/ |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207163624/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-backup-plan-tokyo-1234963303/ |archive-date=February 7, 2024 |access-date=April 19, 2024 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> The album's conception took place when Swift's personal life continued to be a widely covered topic in the press.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last=Sisario |first=Ben |author-link=Ben Sisario |date=2024-04-19 |title=Taylor Swift's ''Tortured Poets'' Arrives With a Promotional Blitz |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/arts/music/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422193932/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/arts/music/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department.html |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |access-date=2024-04-19 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language= |issn=}}</ref> She described ''The Tortured Poets Department'' as her "lifeline" album which she "really needed" to make.<ref name=":022">{{Cite magazine |last=Bonner |first=Mehera |date=February 16, 2024 |title=Taylor Swift Reveals Bonus Track Title and New Album Cover for ''The Tortured Poets Department'' |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a46813336/taylor-swift-the-bolter/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216224610/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a46813336/taylor-swift-the-bolter/ |archive-date=February 16, 2024 |access-date=April 19, 2024 |magazine=[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]}}</ref> Republic Records released it on April 19, 2024; "The Alchemy" is 15th on the track list.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 19, 2024 |title=As ''The Tortured Poets Department'' drops, here's all Taylor Swift's albums ranked by sales |url=https://www.musicweek.com/talent/read/as-the-tortured-poets-department-drops-here-s-all-taylor-swift-s-albums-ranked-by-sales/089645 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419095336/https://www.musicweek.com/talent/read/as-the-tortured-poets-department-drops-here-s-all-taylor-swift-s-albums-ranked-by-sales/089645 |archive-date=April 19, 2024 |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=[[Music Week]]}}</ref> Swift performed an acoustic guitar rendition at the May 12, 2024 concert in [[Paris|Paris, France]] as part of [[the Eras Tour]], which [[Travis Kelce]] attended.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Iasimone |first=Ashley |date=2023-04-24 |title=All the Surprise Songs Taylor Swift Has Performed on The Eras Tour (So Far) |url=https://www.billboard.com/lists/taylor-swift-eras-tour-surprise-songs/ |access-date=2023-04-29 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/travis-kelce-attends-taylor-swift-s-4th-eras-tour-show-in-paris-8646030|title=Travis Kelce Attends Taylor Swift's 4th Eras Tour Show in Paris|website=People|access-date=2024-05-12}}</ref>


== Music and lyrics ==
== Music and lyrics ==

Revision as of 21:10, 12 May 2024

For other uses, see Alchemy (disambiguation).
"The Alchemy"
Song by Taylor Swift
from the album The Tortured Poets Department
ReleasedApril 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
Studio
Genre
Length3:16
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Taylor Swift
  • Jack Antonoff
Lyric video
"The Alchemy" on YouTube

"The Alchemy" is a song from Taylor Swift's eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Swift wrote and produced the track with Jack Antonoff. A pop rock track, "The Alchemy" uses extensive football imagery to describe a burgeoning romance after going through heartbreak.

Background and release

Swift started working on The Tortured Poets Department immediately after she submitted her tenth studio album, Midnights, to Republic Records for release in 2022. She continued working on it in secrecy throughout the US leg of the Eras Tour in 2023.[1] The album's conception took place when Swift's personal life continued to be a widely covered topic in the press.[2] She described The Tortured Poets Department as her "lifeline" album which she "really needed" to make.[3] Republic Records released it on April 19, 2024; "The Alchemy" is 15th on the track list.[4] Swift performed an acoustic guitar rendition at the May 12, 2024 concert in Paris, France as part of the Eras Tour, which Travis Kelce attended.[5][6]

Music and lyrics

"The Alchemy" is a pop rock song[7] with R&B influences in its instrumentation,[8] composed of echoing drums and layered vocals.[9] Will Hodgkinson of The Times wrote that it has a "dreamy, romantic" production.[7] The lyrics use extensive football imagery to describe starting a new relationship.[10][11] Time's Shannon Carlin wrote that the track's placement near the end of the standard album shows that Swift's character is willing to "fight again with this new one-of-a-kind guy" after detailing ex-lovers on the preceding tracks ("These blokes warm the benches/ We've been on a winning streak").[12] Lauren Huff of Entertainment Weekly agreed, saying that "The Alchemy", placed after "songs about heartache so bad that Swift compares it to 'cardiac arrest' in her epilogue", signaled a "good kind" of madness, of falling in love.[13] Swift's character tells her new lover that she is willing to be all in ("So when I touch down/ Call the amateurs and cut 'em from the team") and admits that she does not have another choice ("Honestly, who are we to fight the alchemy?").[12] The song also features details of the lover winning a football match ("Shirts off, and your friends lift you up, over their heads").[14] In the bridge, Swift's character asserts: "Where's the trophy? He just comes, running over to me."[12] Many publications interpreted "The Alchemy" to be about Swift's relationship with the football player Travis Kelce.[12][13][15]

Reception

Some critics, such as The Atlantic's Spencer Kornharber,[16] Slate's Carl Wilson,[17] and Beats Per Minute's John Wohlmacher, considered the football imagery in the lyrics weak, "terrible", and "tossed-off", but Wohlmacher praised the production as "[laid] back and elegant" and said that the "mood of the composition" makes up for the lyrics.[8] Hodgkinson gave the song a five-star rating: "It's excellent — epic but intimate, like the final scene in a blockbuster."[7]

Charts

References

  1. ^ Blistein, Jon (February 7, 2024). "Taylor Swift Reveals Tortured Poets Department Back Up Plan In Case She Didn't Win a Grammy". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  2. ^ Sisario, Ben (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift's Tortured Poets Arrives With a Promotional Blitz". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  3. ^ Bonner, Mehera (February 16, 2024). "Taylor Swift Reveals Bonus Track Title and New Album Cover for The Tortured Poets Department". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on February 16, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  4. ^ "As The Tortured Poets Department drops, here's all Taylor Swift's albums ranked by sales". Music Week. April 19, 2024. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  5. ^ Iasimone, Ashley (April 24, 2023). "All the Surprise Songs Taylor Swift Has Performed on The Eras Tour (So Far)". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  6. ^ "Travis Kelce Attends Taylor Swift's 4th Eras Tour Show in Paris". People. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Hodgkinson, Will (April 19, 2024). "Love, Men and the Story Behind Each Song on Taylor Swift's New Album". The Times. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Wohlmacher, John (April 23, 2024). "Album Review: Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department". Beats Per Minute. Archived from the original on April 23, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  9. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department: All 31 Tracks Ranked". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 20, 2024. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  10. ^ Zoladz, Lindsay (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift's New Album, The Tortured Poets Department, Could Use an Editor: Review". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 20, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  11. ^ Chiu, Melody (April 19, 2024). "Is Taylor Swift's 'The Alchemy' About Travis Kelce? See the Lyrical Football References". People. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d Carlin, Shannon (April 19, 2024). "Why Swifties Are Convinced 'The Alchemy' Is About Travis Kelce". Time. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Huff, Lauren (April 19, 2024). "Is Taylor Swift's new song 'The Alchemy' about Travis Kelce?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  14. ^ O'Connor, Roisin (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift appears to share first song about boyfriend Travis Kelce". The Independent. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  15. ^ Bowenbank, Starr (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift Gushes Over Her and Travis Kelce's Relationship on 'The Alchemy' and 'So High School'". InStyle. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  16. ^ Kornhaber, Spencer (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift Is Having Quality-Control Issues". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  17. ^ Wilson, Carl (April 19, 2024). "The Problem With Taylor Swift's New Album". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
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