‘The Tortured Poets Department’: What we know about Taylor Swift’s album

Taylor Swift, the self-professed “Chairman of the Tortured Poets Division,” will quickly name into session a gathering the place she’ll launch her newest album.

For probably the most half, Swift has saved a whole lot of particulars concerning the album near the chest, however as cryptic as she’s been whereas rolling out her eleventh studio album, there are nonetheless some issues we will glean about “The Tortured Poets Division” from Swift herself.

Let’s begin with what we all know for certain: “The Tortured Poets Division” will probably be out on Friday at midnight Jap, or on Thursday at 9 p.m. in the event you’re on the West Coast, and the primary music video – the music for which remains to be a thriller – will probably be launched Friday at 8 p.m. EDT after the album is launched.

The songs

The album consists of 16 tracks and one bonus observe titled “The Manuscript,” and options collaborations with Submit Malone on a observe titled “Fortnight” and with Florence + The Machine on a observe titled “Florida!!!”

Three vinyl variants can even be out there for buy, every that includes a distinct bonus observe: “The Bolter,” “The Albatross,” “The Black Canine.”

The timetable

When Swift first introduced the album in February whereas accepting a Grammy award for finest pop vocal album for 2022’s “Midnights,” she revealed that she’s been preserving this album a “secret” for the final two years.

A couple of days later throughout an “Eras Tour” live performance in Tokyo, Swift advised her viewers that she started engaged on “Tortured Poets” instantly after she completed “Midnights.”

“I saved engaged on it all through the US tour and when it was excellent, in my view, when it was adequate for you, I completed it,” she stated on the time, in line with footage from the present posted to social media.

The theme

Swift additionally spoke about how a lot this album means to her throughout an “Eras Tour” live performance in Melbourne in February, saying “Tortured Poets” is an album that “greater than any of my albums that I ever made, I wanted to make it.”

“It was actually a lifeline for me. Simply the issues I used to be going by way of, the issues I used to be writing about it was like, it sort of jogged my memory why songwriting is one thing that really will get me by way of my life,” video footage posted to social media from the live performance confirmed. “I’ve by no means had an album the place I wanted songwriting greater than I wanted it on ‘Tortured Poets.’”

She stopped in need of revealing something about what the music will truly sound like, however all indicators level to the album being about heartbreak, which may tackle many types.

The temper

To attach the dots: Earlier this month, Swift created a sequence of playlists for Apple Music concerning the 5 phases of heartbreak. Every playlist consists of songs from her catalog of music that match every stage: denial, anger, bargaining, melancholy and acceptance.

The titles of every playlist are lyrics that Swift had beforehand teased in varied Instagram posts.

Except 2020’s “Folklore,” Swift’s albums are sometimes autobiographical in nature and her romantic relationships are usually a recurring subject.

Swift doesn’t look like experiencing any heartbreak in her present relationship with three-time Tremendous Bowl champ Travis Kelce. Earlier than Kelce, Swift was courting actor Joe Alwyn and in April 2023, CNN reported that their six-year relationship had ended.

Figuring out what Swift had shared about when she truly wrote this album, we will all take from that what we are going to.

With that stated, the sensation of heartbreak isn’t solely restricted to romance. It may actually imply something, so we’ll simply depart a clean area for that.