taylorswift.com

Check back the week of April 19th, there will definitely be an update. 

 Since 1989 (Taylor’s Version) came out, fans have been predicting when and what her next album will be. Many fans were hoping for Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version), and Reputation (Taylor’s Version), however on Sunday, February fourth 2024, Taylor Swift shocked us all. February fourth was the 66th annual Grammys, and Taylor Swift was accepting an award for her 2022 album, Midnights, when she announced that rather than put out another re-recorded album, she would be releasing her eleventh album. This album is called The Tortured Poets Department and is set to release on April 19th, 2024.  

   Just like any other Swiftie, I was ecstatic. Seventeen new songs from my favorite singer? Come on now. Myself and my friends had predicted that the album would be similar to the sister albums Folklore and Evermore, maybe the cousin album. We specifically thought it would be just like the track “The Lakes” from Folklore, mostly due to the line “take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die.” Since this song is my favorite from Folklore and I’m a sucker for Swift’s complicated yet romantic lyrics, I knew this album would be a favorite. 

   Not long after the album was announced the tracklist was also announced. As I said previously, we’re getting seventeen  new songs. The first song is a collaboration, called “Fortnight”  which features Post Malone. 

   If I’m being honest, I have no clue what to expect. Many fans know this is a breakup album. Despite Swift currently dating football star Travis Kelce, before the two got together Swift was in a six year long relationship with actor Joe Alwyn. Since the two were together for so long there were a couple songs written about him. Such as most of the songs from the 2019 album Lover. A perfect example of this is track eleven ,“London Boy”; it’s about Swift just falling harder and harder for Alwyn. One line that shows this is “Home is where the home is, but god I love the English.” 

   Now we all know that Taylor Swift is a mastermind, no pun intended, so that leads me to track number five on The Tortured Poets Department, “So Long, London.” Full honesty, I’m not ready for this one. I’m so aware that I will be crying. On to a bit of a lighter note, there’s a couple songs that I think have sillier names. These are “Florida!!!” (Yes with exclamation marks). I want to know what happened in Florida and why it gets a whole song. The only other songs that Swift has that have exclamation marks are “ME!” and “SLUT!” and both songs are very different. “ME!” is easily more upbeat and more danceable, and despite the name “SLUT!” is a bit softer and less upbeat. So I’m so unsure of what to expect for “Florida!!!” Then we got song number twelve “loml” which stands for love of my life. I’m quite excited for this track. I feel like It might be similar to “The 1” which is a song I adore. 

   Now I feel like it’s time to talk about the songs I think will be my favorite. First up track fifteen “The Alchemy” I don’t have a reason to back this up I’m kind of just hoping I rock with it. The other song is the final song on the album “The Manuscript,” I feel like this song will be the most similar to “The Lakes” and I stated previously that’s my favorite song on Folklore. 

   Another big question fans have been asking is what color the stars will be. When you order from Taylor Swift’s website your package comes with confetti stars that are the color of the album that most recently came out. Fearless is yellow, Reputation is black, Speak Now is purple, etc. So, the people want to know what color the stars will be this time. The album cover art is gray and white so I believe that it could be a darker gray. Regardless, it’ll be cool. 

   If you were unaware by now, I love Taylor Swift. I have her merch and her cd’s, and I’m even listening to Evermore as I write this. The album is coming out the night of junior prom so fingers crossed the DJ plays “Fresh Out The Slammer” or “Clara Bow.” Anyways check back the week of April 19th, there will definitely be an update.