Taylor Swift Is Ready for an 'Encore.' Plus, Miley Cyrus's 'Bass Persuades'

Every Single Album covers two major pop music announcements in this September 2024 episode. The hosts spend the first half discussing Taylor Swift's surprise reveal of an expanded edition of 'The Life of a Showgirl' titled 'Encore,' which adds four bonus tracks to the originally announced 12-song album. Nora Princiotti and Nathan Hubbard speculate on Swift's reasoning for this reversal—why she would add tracks after explicitly stating the album's final track count—and reflect on some of Swift's best bonus tracks from her past releases. This segment takes up roughly the first 31 minutes of the hour-long episode. The second half pivots to Miley Cyrus's latest album 'Bass Persuades' and her upcoming sold-out performances at the Hollywood Bowl, with discussion beginning around the 37-minute mark. The episode is produced by Kaya McMullen and follows the show's typical format of diving into recent album releases and music news with host commentary and analysis.

Verdict: Limited source material makes full assessment difficult, but the show notes suggest a light, speculative episode heavy on host commentary rather than musical insight, guest access, or substantive content.

Music rubric

• Musical insight 2/5 20%

  Show notes mention speculation about Swift's decision-making and reflection on past bonus tracks, but provide no evidence of deep musical analysis of the actual songs or production.

• Access and stories 1/5 20%

  No guests, insider interviews, or first-hand stories mentioned; hosts only offer their own commentary on public announcements.

• Discovery 2/5 15%

  Episode covers existing albums (Swift's expanded edition and Cyrus's 'Bass Persuades') but show notes don't indicate whether hosts recommend listening or highlight standout tracks worth discovering.

• Substance 2/5 15%

  Show notes suggest the episode consists mainly of speculation about Swift's motives and reminiscing about past bonus tracks, with limited indication of substantive content about the new music itself.

• Delivers on its title 3/5 15%

  Title promises coverage of Swift's 'Encore' and Cyrus's 'Bass Persuades,' and the episode does address both, though the depth and balance between topics is unclear from notes.

• Value for time 2/5 15%

  At 61 minutes, the episode covers only two albums with significant time spent on speculation and retrospectives rather than focused analysis, suggesting potential padding.

How we score Music

Worth it if you're a devoted Taylor Swift or Miley Cyrus fan who wants casual host takes on recent news rather than deep musical analysis.

Based on the episode description. AI-generated; it can be wrong.