Review: Our critic and a 13-year-old Swiftie discuss Taylor Swift's new album (first iteration)

Taylor Swift tantalizes and tortures us once again. This time it's with her new album "The Tortured Poets Department," which dropped at midnight ET Friday. Which guy(s) in her life is she singing about? Why is she so unlucky in love? Which of these songs is about new beau Travis Kelce?

After one listen to the 16 songs on her 11th studio album, we have a few quick impressions, a few answers and a lot more questions.

Wait! Stop the presses! Swift dropped a second installment of the album — 15 additional songs — at 2 a.m., two hours after the first record.

To help examine the initial iteration of the new album, I reached out to the resident Swiftie in my family, my 13-year-old cousin Alivia. She listens to Taylor music about 10 hours a week but streams Swift songs with the volume off during school to boost streaming numbers. She got lucky in the lottery and scored tickets to see the pop icon's Eras Tour in October in New Orleans.

We shared our early thoughts about the first 16 songs in a late-night phone call.

Overall impression

Swiftie: "It was a lot. It's really good. One of my friends and I were texting each other the whole time we were listening and we were both freaking out.

I was expecting more upbeat songs. I'm super excited to go back and listen to it and analyze it and read all about it. It's definitely going to be in my Top 5 [of Swift albums]. It's going to go up. Maybe it's like my third or fourth at the moment. No. 1 is "Reputation" and No. 2 is "Folklore."

Critic: It's deep and complicated because Taylor is both a detailed and obtuse lyricist at the same time. Despite seemingly being crazy in love with her football superstar, she is mostly expressing a lot of anger and heartbreak about relationships here. Didn't we expect some more romantic songs? This kiss-off collection is heavy on ballads and medium-tempo tunes with only one bop ("I Can Do It with a Broken Heart") and one almost-banger ("Florida!!!"). Parents be forewarned: Seven of the 16 selections have explicit lyrics.

Favorite lyrics

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