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Taylor Swift released her latest single “Look What You Made Me Do” on August 24 as a sneak peek into her most recent studio album “Reputation.” Since Swift’s debut in the music industry in 2006, the progression of her music has been somewhat seamless. “Look What You Made Me Do” is a total turnaround from her original guise.

The song written by Swift and Jack Antanoff, “Look What You Made Me Do” is the boldest statement ever made in Swift’s career. The vengeful song shows a more angry and spiteful side of her than we have seen before.

With lyrical lines such as “Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time. I’ve got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined,” looks as though she is trying to make a point that her former unblemished, sweet, country-bumpkin reputation is gone, once and for all. It even goes into a startling bridge, declaring that the “old Taylor is dead.” This song is simply a proper goodbye to the Taylor that fans have known and loved for the past decade.

Musically, “Look What You Made Me Do” is an all-time low for Swift. Her tone, previously known for its stifling innocence, isn’t showcased to its potential as she spends much less time actually singing in the song than any of her previous artistry. Large parts of the song are spoken. There is also much heavier instrumentation that sounds extremely inauthentic and computerized.

The music video for “Look What You Made Me Do” was released alongside the audio track in late August. The video is four minutes of Swift abrasively communicating with the camera in disturbing settings that reflect her power and authority. A stylistic coax included within the video is Swift wearing a variety of her most memorable old wardrobe pieces consistently throughout the video.

The first scene shows a haunted graveyard with a zombie version of Swift wearing the “Out of the Woods” dress, crawling out of a grave, the headstone reads “Here lies Taylor Swift’s Reputation.” The grave opens and inside is a more familiar Swift wearing the dress she wore to the Met Gala in 2014.

As the video continues, more hidden components of the evolution from “old Taylor” to “new Taylor” emerge. Most notable, the video concludes with various versions of Swift, including the Taylor from the “Fearless” tour, “Shake It Off” video and “You Belong With Me.” The Taylors throughout the video bicker and unearth various critical claims that have been made against them over the years before blacking out with a Taylor chorus of “shut up!”

“Look What You Made Me Do” puts Swift’s career in more danger than ever before. The fanbase she obtained at the beginning of her career was interested in her music for reasons that have now gone missing. She originally built an empire with her sweet-natured, relatable anthems. A major shift like this could potentially threaten her credibility as an artist, her bright image and her career as a whole.

However, Swift’s fans have been known to be notoriously loyal throughout all of the decisions she has made in her career. It seems as though there are people that will always support her, even as she evolves and goes through creative phases.

The buzz surrounding the new single has been split. Critics, of course, have had a lot to say about the track. Breanna Barraclough of NewsHub online writes “it’s a new year and there’s a new Taylor Swift song but we’re still dealing with the same old nonsense about how much her music sucks,” while Andy Hermann of LA Weekly says he believes it to be “as smart, well-crafted and emotionally satisfying as anything in her catalog.”

Fans have also taken to YouTube, to leave comments like “Looks like she will never be happy and ‘clean’ again. Unfortunately she can’t handle the fame. This video is asking for help..” (account: Andrew Schmidt). However, there has been positive feedback from viewers as well. Comments such as “the old taylor may be dead but we’re living for this!!!” (account: Hope Germaine) have also been posted.

Personally, I am not a fan of the new image Swift is trying to personify. Even though I was not always overly impressed with her prior level of musical difficulty, I was a fan of her songs because they were raw, catchy and at the very least, entertaining. Her old music videos that I remember were more wholesome and fun to watch as well. While I think it is okay that she wants to show she doesn’t care what people think, the method she is using to do it honestly creeps me out. I am simply not entertained by her new, automated sound or the message that comes with it.

In past years, several established artists have attempted similar image repositioning. Miley Cyrus shocked the world with the music video release of “Wrecking Ball,” and Fall Out Boy’s “Save Rock n Roll” fell flat in comparison to their previous success. It is not uncommon in the  music industry for an artist to change their sound completely. Sometimes it pays off greatly, and sometimes it is a career breaker. 

I would say that Cyrus, for example, was eventually successful in her attempt. Although occasionally questionable, in time, she generated a whole new division of fans by repositioning herself. This led to a deeper involvement and presence in pop culture, something that never would have happened had she not bid Hannah Montana goodbye and moved on to the new phase. However, Fall Out Boy’s rebellious, game changing album invited heavy critiques and was the beginning of their road to obscurity.

With “Look What You Made Me Do” being the furthest Swift has ever strayed, it poses a big risk for her. Only time will tell if the stylistic innovation was ultimately a smart career move, or if it will be the beginning of a massive career plummet.