Romantic upheavals keep Taylor Swift pertinent

SWIFT. Honesty—even if it hurts!

After John Mayer and Joe Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal is the latest object of Taylor Swift’s soul-baring bile as she engages in another romantic purging in her latest studio album, “Red.” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” is Swift’s first No. 1 tune on Billboard’s Hot 100—and the fastest selling single in digital history (it topped the iTunes chart 50 minutes after it was released)!

In the string-backed “Stay Stay Stay,” she remains caustic even when she’s being complimentary: “Before you, I only dated self-indulgent takers/ who took their problems out on me.” Ouch.

If it’s any consolation, the lovely singer’s romantic upheavals have been “financially lucrative” downers—because, for four albums now, Taylor’s been crying all the way to the top of the music charts. She makes no apologies for the confessional tone of her songs—in fact, she says that it allows her to be “completely honest with people—even if it hurts them!”

As Swift veers away from her country-and-folk roots, her latest collection glows from its hook-heavy, pop-rock sheen (the arena-crowd dazzler, “State of Grace,” “All Too Well”) even if the issues she tackles are becoming repetitive (“Starlight,” “Sad Beautiful Tragic,” “Treacherous”).

But, while she still has scores to settle, the songstress does seem like she’s ready to move on—as the upbeat “22” and the hopeful “Begin Again” suggest.

Swift’s radio-friendly duets with Ed Sheeran (“Everything Has Changed”) and Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody (“The Last Time”) deserve to be heard—but, you don’t want to miss the countrified electronica in “I Knew You Were Trouble,” and the movingly revelatory “I Almost Do”—about the breakup she never wanted! —Such insatiable attraction for romantic upheavals!