Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated album “The Tortured Poets Department” was released on Friday, marking the megastar’s 11th studio album in a record-breaking year.
“New album THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. Out now,” she wrote on her Instagram account, ending the announcement with a heart emoji.
Two hours later she posted: “It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album.
“I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.”
Swift announced the album’s release at the Grammys in February, when she won her fourth Album of the Year award.
With the release of “Tortured Poets” in the United States at midnight Eastern time (0400 GMT Friday), the artist could be on track for a fifth.
Swift’s devoted Swifties had been working nonstop since her shocking announcement, dishing out fan predictions.
The working idea is that the album is about Swift’s ex, British actor Joe Alwyn, whom she dated from 2016 until their breakup roughly a year ago.
Alwyn (“The Favourite”) and fellow actor Paul Mescal (“Normal People”) revealed in 2022 that they had a group chat entitled “The Tortured Man Club,” which also included Andrew Scott (“Fleabag,” “Ripley”).
The Swifties believe their queen’s album title is an allusion to that literary circle.
Swift announced the album’s release, writing: “An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions, and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure.” This time of the author’s life has come to an end, with the chapter closed and boarded up.”
Prior to their breakup, Alwyn earned several composition credits on her albums under the pen name William Bowery.
Swift had previously announced the tracklist, which included “So Long, London,” “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”
Florence + The Machine will appear on the record, as will Post Malone, who Swift announced on Thursday will be on her debut song “Fortnight.”
“I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever,” she said in a post on Instagram.
Swift announced that a video for the song will be released late Friday, following the release of the album.
‘Shake up the world’
Swift has repeatedly eviscerated her former lovers in song, including dropping lyrical takedowns of John Mayer and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Her current beau, Super Bowl-winning NFL player Travis Kelce, has already praised her new work.
“I have heard some of it, yes, and it’s unbelievable,” he told reporters in February.
“I can’t wait for her to shake up the world when it finally drops.”
Swift has already had an eventful year or so, performing the first billion-dollar tour with her ongoing series of Eras performances, smashing numerous chart records and creating Grammy history.
Swift’s Chinese admirers attended private offline listening sessions for the album, while others took group selfies in front of billboards in over 30 cities.
On Weibo, China’s X-like platform, popular pop singer Jane Zhang shared a link to Swift’s new album with the comment: “This album is my cup of tea.”
Topping the charts with Beyonce
Swift, who was born in Pennsylvania on December 13, 1989, started writing songs professionally as a teenager and signed with Nashville’s Big Machine Records as a country musician.
Following a widely publicized fight with Big Machine executives over ownership of her first six albums, she made the calculated and hazardous choice to re-record them in order to own the rights.
It paid off, pleasing devoted fans, attracting new Swifties, and regaining her industry respect.
With “The Tortured Poets Department,” she has the potential to make headlines again, but she will have heavy competition from Beyonce and Billie Eilish next awards season.
On March 29, Beyonce released her latest single, the electrifying, statement-making “Cowboy Carter”.
That provided a chart buffer — whether deliberate or not — for both her and Swift to score wins.
The two reigning stars are frequently portrayed as rivals, despite the fact that they have constantly denied this.
They will almost surely compete for next year’s top Grammys, as will Eilish, whose third album “Hit Me Hard and Soft” arrives on May 17.
However, these outrageously affluent, tremendously gifted, and conversation-starting artists have all underlined that it is ultimately about the music.