By: Mia Bove ’24
Taylor Swift announced her newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, during her acceptance speech at the 2024 Grammy Awards Ceremony. The popular artist received her 13th award (her lucky number) as her most recent album, Midnights, dubbed 2024’s best pop vocal album.
“I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I have been keeping from you for the last two years,” Swift said before announcing her 11th studio album, which will be released on April 19.
The scheduled release date falls amidst Swift’s “Era’s Tour,” and the artist has not yet revealed how the additional music will affect her current 3-hour-long setlist.
Immediately after announcing, Swift posted the album cover on her social media account with the caption, “All’s fair in love and poetry,” and the day after announcing the album, Swift revealed via social media that the album has 16 songs and one bonus track and opened the option for preorder on her website.
The album will be available in serval medias including, CD, cassette, vinyl, and a digital album.
Swift’s fans, commonly called “Swifties,” knew Swift was hiding something due to the cryptic hints slowly being revealed. Yet, no fan was anticipating the release of a new album.
When Swift announced the album and revealed the album cover, a black and white photo of her lying down with her face cropped out of the frame, fans noticed that the inability to see her face similarly resembled the original 1989 cover, and the color scheme matches the Reputation cover.
Many expected the singer to release the long-awaited Reputation (Taylor’s Version) at the ceremony. Swift’s social media profile pictures changed to black and white just hours before the ceremony, and she walked the red carpet in a black and white gown, which now connects to the newly announced black and white cover.
Fans also quickly noticed the crashing of Swift’s website just hours before the Grammy Awards and an error code reading “hneriergrd,” which was quickly unscrambled to reveal “red herring.”
Fans reacted positively to the announced album, and they seem to have no problem with waiting for the next rerecording as The Tortured Poets Department steals the spotlight.
Since 2021, Swift has been gradually rerecording each of her albums to gain back the rights to her music after previous producer Scooter Braun took over. Beginning with Fearless, Red, Speak Now and 1989, Swift has her namesake debut album and Reputation left to rerecord.
Fans frequently point out that she has only her name and reputation to regain and anticipate an extravagant announcement for the two.
Tense excitement ensued when Swift released the track list for the album, and fans connected the upcoming song “So Long, London” with the previous song “London Boy” off of her album Lover with her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
With the release of the track list, Swift revealed two repeat collaborations. On track 1, titled “Fortnight,” Swift works with Post Malone; on track 8, “Florida!!” she works with Florence + The Machine.
In the past, Swift has responded glowingly when asked about her relationship with Florence, where she said, “What sets Florence apart? Everything. Every time I’ve been around her, she is the most magnetic person in the room — surrounded by people who are fascinated by the idea of being near her.”
Like fans’ speculation regarding which album would be released, fans are now digging deeper into the album title’s meaning. They quickly noticed how similar “The Tortured Poets Department” sounds to a group chat between Joe Alwyn, Swift’s ex-boyfriend, and Paul Mescal. In Dec 2022, the actors revealed the name of the group, “The Tortured Man Club,” in an interview with Variety.
Even with the potential nods to her ex-boyfriend, Travis Kelce, Swift’s Superbowl champion boyfriend, revealed he was among the first to hear in the album.
In a pre-game interview, he said, “I have heard some of it, yes, and it’s unbelievable,” he said to Extra on the field at Allegiant Stadium. “I can’t wait for her to shake up the world when it finally drops.”
THE BEAR FACTS 