By Franchesca Murrugarra
Taylor Swift’s upcoming album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” will be released on April 19 and feature sixteen new songs, according to a preview of the anticipated album on Apple Music.
Swift surprised the world with the announcement of her 11th studio album on Feb. 4, following her Grammy win for Best Pop Vocal Album with her previous 2022 album, “Midnights.”
Swift said in her Grammy award speech, “This is my 13th Grammy, which is my lucky number…I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret I’ve been keeping from you for the past two years: my brand new album comes out April 19th.”
The declaration of her new album follows the widespread success of her latest “Eras Tour,” which accumulated over $1 billion and brought together millions of fans, according to The Guardian. Swift’s infamous tour was released as an extended music film on Disney+, titled “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version).”
Here is the official setlist for Taylor Swift’s brand-new era:
- “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)”
- “The Tortured Poets Department”
- “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toy”
- “Down Bad”
- “So Long, London”
- “But Daddy, I Love Him.”
- “Fresh Out The Slammer”
- “Florida!!! (feat. Florence + the Machine)”
- “Guilty as Sin?
- “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”
- “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)”
- “loml”
- “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”
- “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”
- “The Alchemy”
- “Clara Bow”
Prominent artists like Post Malone and Florence + the Machine will be featured on Swift’s new album.
In addition to these official tracks, four exclusive bonus tracks, including “The Manuscript,” “The Bolter,” “The Albatross,” and “The Black Dog,” were announced on Swift’s Instagram the following month after the Grammys.
The latter three of these exclusive tracks can be purchased as separate bundles of a physical Special Edition Vinyl on Swift’s official website for a limited time.
In her initial announcement of her new album on Instagram, Swift revealed a handwritten snippet of her title track, “The Tortured Poets Department” — the namesake of her album, “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.”
Fans made the connection that the title track’s name references the WhatsApp group chat of Swift’s ex-boyfriend of 6 years, Joe Alwyn, titled “The Tortured Man Club.”
Various other songs on the tracklist, such as “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys,” “But Daddy I Love Him,” “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” “loml,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” also seem to allude to Alwyn, according to an article by Harper’s Bazaar.
As mentioned on Cosmopolitan, Swifties were quick to notice the symbolism of the album covers’ colors, which was speculated to be related to the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. One fan on X (formerly Twitter) said, “The current color palette of The Tortured Poets Department: The Five Stages Of Grief,” referencing the color scheme of the cover art, which goes through varying shades of white, gray, and black.
Amidst all of the current anticipation and speculation, Swifties revealed their thoughts on “The Tortured Poets Department” on Reddit.
One fan described their expectations of the new album: “chaos. in a good way…I’m expecting/hoping for something that highlights the beauty of [inconsistencies], the tonal shifts and messes we go through in life…whether it’s lyric-wise or production-wise, all I hope [is] that it’s a bit messy and a lot intense.”
Another fan on Reddit said, “I hope TPD will be different because I love seeing how Taylor grows and challenges herself throughout her albums, and I’m curious to see how she’ll continue to push herself now that she’s at the height of her success. I would be disappointed if she stayed in her comfort zone.”
“The Tortured Poets Department” is available for pre-order on Swift’s official website.