Swifties, rejoice! It's officially the week of the release of Taylor Swift's long-awaited 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. It is set to be her most explicit record yet with seven of its tracks carrying an 'explicit' warning.
After revealing at the Grammys in February that new music was on its way, Taylor Swift has continued to tease her upcoming music.
In March, in a pre-recorded voice note shared to Apple Music users, Swift could be heard thanking them for pre-saving her album. 'Hi, Apple Music, it's Taylor,' she said in the recording. 'Thank you for pre-adding The Tortured Poets Department. I'm really proud to be able to share it with you on April 19. I can't wait for you to hear it!'
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In addition to the voice note, the album’s tracklist on the streaming service also confirmed this would be her most explicit record yet, with seven songs containing 'curse words or language deemed sexual, violent, or offensive in nature.'
The news comes after the performer confirmed the fourth and final variation of her upcoming album. The fourth bonus track to Swift's upcoming record will be 'The Black Dog', the star revealed to fans during one of her Eras concerts in Singapore. It will join 'The Manuscript', 'The Bolter' and 'The Albatross', to make up the four versions of Swift’s upcoming album. Each of the four iterations will include one of Swift's bonus track and will feature different cover art.
Swift previously announced the second cover and its track 'The Bolter' during a tour stop in Melbourne, and the third cover and its track 'The Albatross', during a concert in Sydney.
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On April 15, a post on Spotify's X account revealed that the album would be promoted with a 'library installation' in LA. This took the form of an open-air poetry library, which was 'highly curated to represent the direction of the new record', according to a press release issued by Spotify.
Devoted fans waited in line for up to five hours to explore the installation, which featured various items that have been widely discussed on social media. The clues included a clock stuck on 2pm, a tambourine, a notebook with the word 'US' written inside it and a statue of Diana of Ephesus, the Greek goddess of hunters and childbirth.
Swift also collaborated with Spotify to release a black-and-white video message that reminded fans to pre-save the album. 'Hey Spotify, happy release week of The Tortured Poets Department album,' she says, sitting behind a typewriter. 'Make sure to pre-save the album and keep checking back for more updates from the department.'
She has also got fans hyped by leaving a series of QR codes in murals around the world, in cities including London, Chicago, Paris, Nashville, Toronto, Mexico, Sydney and São Paulo. Each allegedly leads to a YouTube Short showing an old-fashioned typewriter documenting a singular letter and it's thought that they will collectively spell out a word. Swifties are still figuring this one out, so watch this space.
As of April 17, we now also have a 'timetable' for the release, which Swift has revealed in a video shared on her Instagram. The clip starts in a room reminiscent of the Midnights (her previous album) era, featuring a clock and the record on vinyl, before heading down a hallway to a room with a sign on the door that reads 'The Tortured Poets Department'.
Inside the room there are two desks with typewriters and takeaway cups on them, then the video zooms into a notice board upon which a calendar reads '**The Tortured Poets Department Release Day**'. There was also a note below that reads '8 pm ET Music video release', and Swift captioned the post: 'The TTPD Timetable'.
Overall, the aesthetic looks academic (with the classroom-style door and typewriters) but also a little institutional – with bright lights and white floors and ceilings, and sparse detailing.
There's also been a frenzy over an alleged leak, with snippets of songs shared on social media – although fans were divided over whether it was real or created by artificial intelligence. Per the Daily Mail, the snippets were allegedly taken from a Google Drive link, which contained 17 different songs.
The Tortured Poets Department, which will feature 17 songs including whichever bonus track the version of the album comes with, starts with a collaboration with Post Malone and also features a song recorded with Florence & The Machine. Side A of the record includes 'Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)', 'The Tortured Poets Department,' 'My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys,' and 'Down Bad.' On the other side of the record, Side B, are the songs 'So Long, London,' 'But Daddy I Love Him,' 'Fresh Out the Slammer,' and 'Florida!!! (feat Florence + The Machine).'
Side C of the album includes 'Guilty as Sin?,' 'Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?,' 'I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),' and 'loml,' while the record's final side features 'I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,' 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,' 'The Alchemy,' 'Clara Bow,' and a bonus track titled 'The Manuscript.'
Swift announced the release of The Tortured Poets Department while accepting her 13th Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights on February 5, 2024. ‘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,’ she said, before announcing the album.
Shortly after leaving the stage, Swift then uploaded the cover of the upcoming album cover to X and Instagram, with a photo of lyrics that read: ‘And so I enter into evidence / My tarnished coat of arms / My muses, acquired like bruises / My talismans and charms / The tick, / tick, / tick, / of love bombs, / my veins of pitch black ink.’
During a press conference for the Super Bowl on February 10, Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce revealed that he's listened to parts of the album and it's 'unbelievable.'
'Ok, I have heard some of it. Yes. And it is unbelievable. I can't wait for her to shake up the world when it finally drops,' the Kansas City Chiefs player told reporters.
Swift, who has been nominated for 52 Grammys over her career, also made history at this year's award ceremony. The Eras singer won two gongs this year, including her fourth Album Of The Year win, making her the first person to ever win the coveted award four times.
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Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
