The queen of pop Taylor Swift released a new album this Friday, April 19, the eleventh opus of the American country singer who became a global megastar, shattering records one after the other.
“All is fair in love and poetry… New album THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT is available now,” she wrote on Instagram.
Two hours later, she posted: “It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret double album.”
“I’ve been writing a lot of tortured poetry over the last couple of years and I wanted to share it all with you, so here’s part two of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 additional songs. And now the story is no longer mine… it’s all yours,” she told her fans, the “Swifties.”
The star announced her release in February during the Grammy Awards ceremony, the prestigious American music awards where she won the trophy for best album of the year for the fourth time.
The album contains collaborations with the British rock group Florence + The Machine and the American rapper Post Malone, who accompanies him on the first track “Fortnight” (“Two Weeks”).
“I am a very big admirer of Post because of his quality as an author, his musical experiments and these melodies that he composes and which stay in your head forever,” the singer wrote on Instagram on Thursday.
“I had the opportunity to see that magic come to life when we worked together on Fortnight,” she added, announcing the release of a music video late Friday.
At 34, Taylor Swift became the first artist to become a billionaire in early 2024 thanks to income from her music alone.
An ex, rap and rock
Among the theories circulating about this new album: “The Tortured Poets Department” would be about the singer’s ex, the British actor Joe Alwyn. The name of the opus would be taken from a group discussion called “The Tortured Man Club” that the actor held with Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, two other actors.
The track listing, 16 in total, gives some clues: “So Long, London,” “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” (“I Can Change It, No Really I Can) “) and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” – an Englishman does indeed seem to be involved in the affair.
Announcing the album’s release, Taylor Swift wrote: “An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and feelings from a fleeting, fatalistic moment – one that was both sensational and sad in equal measure.” This period of the author’s life is now over.”
A record tour
Coming back, without taking any gloves off, on her former companions has become a tradition for Taylor Swift.
Her current companion is American football star Travis Kelce, recent Super Bowl winner. And for him, the new album “is incredible”.
With her new Grammy victory in February, Taylor Swift did better than American legends like Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon or Stevie Wonder.
Nearly 20 years after she started, nothing seems to be able to stop her.
His world tour, “Eras Tour”, is expected to bring in a total of two billion dollars in revenue, after having already broken the symbolic ceiling of one billion last year – a historic first.
In China, fans were able to participate in offline listening sessions of the new album in more than 30 cities. On Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of X, famous pop singer Jane Zhang shared a link to the album, commenting: “This album is my cup of tea.”
Three weeks after Beyoncé
The Pennsylvania native has been writing songs since she was a teenager, getting her start in the country capital of Nashville.
By gradually moving away from this very American style, she is climbing the rankings. In 2018, she left the Big Machine label and joined Universal, without the rights to her previous albums.
By re-recording her first records to regain control, she managed to convince her fans and the music industry, another tour de force for this essential artist.
With 283 million subscribers on Instagram, she is so influential among American youth that the political world is beginning to imagine the impact she could have on the presidential election in November.
Her new album landed on platforms three weeks after that of another American icon: Beyoncé and her “Cowboy Carter”. This new opus with rich country influences could be a competitor for the next Grammy. With perhaps, also, the new album of another star: Billie Eilish releases “Hit Me Hard and Soft” on May 17.