ELDRITCH NIGHTS: The ERAS TOUR

Sadly I'm not going to be one of the lucky hundreds of millions watching Taylor Swift here in the UK this month (and August), but I've always been a huge fan. I say, "always"; the first album I listened to was RED so not "always", "always" but Taylor's always had a big influence on my writing. I somewhat modeled Daphne's face in ELDRITCH NIGHTS on Taylor's appearance in the You Belong with Me video. This was 2014, so it was very much the year of 1989. I was very much there for that, and her song BLANK SPACE contributed to the writing of ELDRITCH NIGHTS with its fantastical, supervillain lyrics. What I like about Taylor Swift is that her music conjures a peaceful vision of Americana that, perhaps, never existed and which only exists in her music in which country tropes, conservative iconography (home, family, Jesus) can exist alongside impassioned LGBT support, and more modern ways of thinking when it comes to sexual activity etc. Thing is, this America did exist for a glimmer, and it was called Obama's America. My pet theory is that just as President Barack Obama allowed everyone to celebrate America without its warts, and attributing positive characteristics to the country that were hopeful at best; Taylor's music allows something similar.