And so we're nearly at the end, and yet it feels like a beginning. The start of something new. And yet there's that familiar country twang, the roots of it having been on show all along. And ultimately, it's still a pop record, albeit one, like Lover, which sounds like it's her and a laptop rather than one wing of Abbey Road. There are some tracks which could be demos and outtakes from a lost Fleetwood Mac album, or - again - Judee Sill. Is it a step too far to say that? The lyrics are still absolutely on top form. I'm not sure swapping Ed Sheeran for Bon Iver was entirely necessary, but I guess it's a good thing?

It's when August comes around that you realise that this is something special. I mean, this is not just a great song, it's arguably one of the best songs I heard last year. If Arlo Parks or whoever was coming out with this people would be talking about Brit awards and Mercurys and all the rest.

It's interesting that Aaron Dessner, the guitarist in The National, was one of the key co-writers - I think that definitely comes across. Here's his take:

"Taylor has opened the door for artists to not feel pressure to have "the bop". To make the record that she made, while running against what is programmed in radio at the highest levels of pop music—she has kind of made an anti-pop record."

I would agree with that, I think. The number one thing this album lacks (and in turn gains from) is the absence of that boom-boom-boom-boom four to the floor beat. The drums are sometimes practically indistinct.

You told me that all of my problems were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential. If SPM had come out with that people would be wearing it on tee shirts.