Taylor Swift accepted her 13th Grammy in a way only she would — by announcing her next Grammy winner, The Tortured Poets Department. Swift’s 11th album will be out April 19, and of course, it’s got a dramatic black-and-white cover. Swift shared the surprise as she won Best Pop Vocal Album for her last original release, Midnights, continuing a bit of a trend after she announced that album while accepting a trophy at the 2022 VMAs. Now, she’s fully leaning into being a professor (she does have a doctorate) with her first lesson: teaching Swifties all about the five stages of heartbreak and grief that surrounded the album announcement. Grab a notebook, here’s everything we know about Swift’s newest album.
What’s on the syllabus?
Swift dropped a tracklist as she was on her way to Japan for the Eras tour in February. TTPD will feature 16 tracks with one bonus song titled “The Manuscript” on the standard edition. And she’s not running the department alone; Post Malone and Florence + the Machine are both featured on the album, with Malone kicking things off during syllabus week on “Fortnight” (and not on Fortnite; sorry, gamers).
For the variant collectors, Swift will release (so far) four different versions of the album, each with a new bonus track: “The Manuscript,” “The Bolter,” “The Albatros,” and “The Black Dog.” While the last three were only available on her official webstore for a limited time, if history repeats itself, they’ll most likely come back again as the album comes closer.
Is this a breakup album?
Professor Swift has a master’s in heartbreak anthems and has seemingly leaned into the five stages of grief theory circling around the past month and released “5 Stages of Heartbreak” playlists. As Apple Music puts it: “When Swifties agree upon a theory, Taylor takes an interest—so, naturally, she’s responded by crafting a series of exclusive playlists, choosing songs of her own that fit each stage.” She twisted the knife a bit when she added songs like “Lover” and “betty” to the Denial playlist (the first stage) named after one of the upcoming TTPD lyrics, “I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life.” Below are all five of the playlists. Here is a warning: Your favorite Swift love song might have a new meaning.
Wait, I thought Rep was next?
The initial announcement was a bit of a curveball for Swifties, who’d been expecting Swift to announce her impending Taylor’s Version of Reputation instead. The ties were indeed black, and the lies were indeed white! Along with the announcement and album cover, Swift posted a poem on Twitter:
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
All’s fair in love and poetry …
Sincerely,
The Chairman
of The Tortured Poets Department
Yeah, uh, sorry for all the love-bombing discourse to come. And sorry to anyone else who may have announced an album about a tortured poet at the Grammys.
Any required reading?
Swifties, being Swifties, immediately started decoding the album announcement, title, and vibes. A theory emerged quickly that the album title is a dig at Joe Alwyn (and maybe Paul Mescal too), as he is in a group chat called “The Tortured Man Club.” Andrew Scott started the chat, which Alwyn and Mescal discussed in their Variety “Actors on Actors” video. With songs titled “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” and “So Long, London,” the theories are not lightening up in the slightest.
When do classes start?
The Tortured Poets Department comes out on April 19, start studying.
This post has been updated throughout.
By Justin Curto , 2024-04-06 02:00:00
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