Taylor Swift isn’t known for lyrical prowess as much as she is for her narrative skill. The intimacy of her lyrics has been very relatable and has captured the hearts of many, propelling her to stardom. Swift’s newest album “Red” marks a shift in her career. It is more experimental, as Swift explores genres outside of her usual country-pop. Her experiments, however, have mixed results.

“Red” isn’t quite red but more of a mahogany, prospective but impure. It all begins with the lead single “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” The song is vapid and reminiscent of “music” often played on Top-40 radio stations, meant to be heard very often for a few months and then lost to obscurity. The spoken word lyric in the middle of the song that ends with: “And I’m like, I’m just, I mean this is exhausting, you know. We are never getting back together,” which is spoken in a stereotypical valley-girl accent, is almost self-satirical. The only thing that’s “exhausting” is this song.

It’s a shame that songs like “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together” are included in Red because they detract from the quality of other tracks like “The Last Time,” a duet between Swift and Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol fame. Swift and Lightbody’s dissimilar voices artfully interweave each other on a mattress of strings and a piano, gradually increasing in intensity until the climax of the song near the end. “The Last Time” brings Swift and Lightbody’s vocals together with confrontational and emotive lyrics in a package that can only be described as “beautiful.”

“Red” is an album with potential that is unfortunately lost in the mediocrity of Swift’s more commercially-friendly songs. Replacing such songs with more complete ones would have brought “Red” from its current mahogany to a brilliant red. Thus, I give “Red” a score of three broken teenage boys’ hearts out of five.

And now, a message to Swift: “Yo’, Taylor. Imma’ let you finish, but only if you release a better album next time.”