The pop star announced her 11th record at the 2024 Grammys.
Taylor Swift gave her fans more than they bargained for at the 2024 Grammys, dropping explosive news of her new album’s acceptance speech, The Department of Tortured Poets, is coming this year.
The good news came as the pop star accepted Best Pop Vocal for her 2022 record. Midnights – that is, the last album she announced without warning during an awards show acceptance speech. “It’s my 13th Grammy – which is my lucky number, I don’t know if I’ve told you that yet,” she teased the crowd from the stage at the Crypto.com Arena on Sunday (4 FEBRUARY). “I want to say thank you to the fans by revealing a secret that I have been hiding from you for two years…”
Swift then revealed the impending arrival of The Department of Tortured Poets before releasing the sultry album cover almost immediately after leaving the stage. “All is fair in love and poetry…” she captioned the work. “New album THE DEPARTMENT OF TORTURED POETS.”
Later in the evening, the 34-year-old singer-songwriter won a historic fourth album of the year for Midnightsbut Swifties were probably more excited about the announcement of the new LP, especially because most were expecting the musician to announce his long-awaited Reputation (Taylor version) at the ceremony instead — so much so that “Rep TV” was ahead of the Grammys. Swift has been regularly releasing re-recorded versions of her first six albums since 2021. Intrepid, Red, Speak Now And 1989she only has her first self-titled album and Representative remains to be done – but clearly, fans will just have to wait a little longer because the Tortured poets the era sets in.
From release date to song titles, see it all Billboard knows about Swift’s 11th album The Department of Tortured Poets below.
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The title
Obviously the album is called The Department of Tortured Poets – but fans suspect there are multiple layers to this title. Namely, Swifties were quick to point out how similar this is to a certain group chat shared by Swift’s ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn and Paul Mescal, as both actors revealed in a press release from December 2022. Variety interview: “The Tortured Men’s Club”.
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The cover
In the black-and-white album cover shared by Swift moments after the album’s announcement, she poses in a black top and shorts, arms wrapped around her body, lying on white bedding. Similar to the original 1989 cover, the upper half of his face is obstructed.
Stylist Joseph Cassell revealed on Instagram that the photo shows Swift wearing a black camisole tank top and matching high-waisted briefs from Mary Kate and Ashley’s fashion brand, The Row.
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When it happens
As Swift revealed in her Grammys speech, The Department of Tortured Poets arrives Friday, April 19.
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The tracklist
Swift shared the album’s full tracklist a day after announcing the project, revealing that Tortured poets has a total of 16 songs plus a bonus track:
- “Fifteen days”
- “The Department of Tortured Poets”
- “My boy only breaks his favorite toys”
- “Down Bad”
- “Goodbye, London”
- “But dad, I love him”
- “Refreshing the Slammer”
- “Florida!!!!”
- “Guilty as sin?” »
- “Who’s afraid of little old me?”
- “I can fix it (not really, I can)”
- “loml”
- “I can do it with a broken heart”
- “The smallest man who ever lived”
- “Alchemy”
- “Clara Arc”
Bonus track: “The Manuscript”
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The collaborators
THE Department of Tortured Poets The tracklist included two major collaborations: Post Malone, whose name is featured on the first track, “Fortnight,” as well as Florence + The Machine on the eighth track, “Florida!!! »
Posty and Florence Welch have sung Swift’s praises in the past, with the rapper calling the pop star a “super songwriter” in an October 2023 interview with Howard Stern, and Welch and Swift exchanging compliments in a 2015 interview . Billboard interview.
“What sets Florence apart? Everything,” Swift said at the time. “Every time I’m around her, she’s the most magnetic person in the room, surrounded by people who are fascinated by the idea of being near her.”
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A possible word
While sharing the album art on Instagram, Swift also included a photo of what appeared to be handwritten lyrics from one of the project’s tracks. “And so I enter into proof/My tarnished coat of arms,” read the message, written in black and pink on white stationery labeled “TTPD.”
“My muses, acquired like bruises/My talismans and charms/The tick, tick, tick of love bombs,” he continues. “My veins of black ink.”
“All’s fair in love and poetry…” Swift signed the note. “Sincerely, the Chairman of the Department of Tortured Poets. »
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Travis Kelce approves
Swift’s superstar boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, revealed in a press interview before the Super Bowl that he was supposed to be one of the singer’s beta listeners during The Department of Tortured Poets – and his review was glowing.
“I’ve heard about it, yes, and it’s amazing,” he said. Additional on the field of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. “I can’t wait for her to turn the world upside down when it finally falls.”
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How long has it been in the works?
At his first Eras Tour concert in Japan on February 7 – just days after the first announcement Tortured poets — Swift revealed that the project has been in the works for a while. “I’ve been working on this for about two years,” she told the Tokyo Dome audience. “I continued to work on it throughout the American tour, and when it was perfect – in my opinion when it was good enough for you – I finished it and I’m so, so excited that you could soon hear it.”
She also noted: “I worked on Tortured poets since just after my arrival Midnights», which would have been a few months before the release of this latest album in October 2022.
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“The Bolter” Edition
Swift announced a second version of Tortured poets nicknamed “The Bolter” during his Eras Tour stop on February 16, 2024 in Melbourne, with an alternate cover that reads “You Can’t Talk to Me About Sad” on the back.
In place of “The Manuscript”, she confirmed that this edition of the album will feature a bonus track also titled “The Bolter”.
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It was therapeutic to write
While discussing the album during her February 16, 2024 concert in Melbourne – the same one where she announced the special edition “The Bolter” – Swift revealed that Tortured poets is his most cathartic project to date.
“It kind of reminded me why songwriting is something that guides me in my life,” she shared, sitting at her surprise floral-painted piano. “I’ve never had an album where I needed to write songs more than on Tortured poets.”
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“The Albatross” Edition
About a week after the announcement of the “Bolter” edition of Tortured poetsSwift revealed another one Tortured poets episode titled “The Albatross” during his February 23, 2024 show in Sydney, Australia. Once again, the third version of the album features its own cover art and a limited bonus track.
Merriam Webster defines the term “albatross” as “large webbed seabirds that have long, thin wings, are excellent gliders, and include the largest seabirds” as well as “something that causes deep worry or persistent anxiety.”
“Am I allowed to cry? reads the back cover.
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“The Black Dog” Edition
During her March 3 Eras Tour in Singapore, Swift announced the fourth and final release of Tortured poets. Titled “The Black Dog,” the issue’s cover features a black-and-white portrait of the singer dramatically wrapping her arms around her head.
Accompanied by its own bonus track, the slogan for the “Black Dog” edition reads: “Old habits die screaming…”
