Taylor Swift wasn’t content with blowing fans’ minds on Friday, simply by dropping her heartbreak masterpiece The Tortured Poets Department — instead, she revealed that it’s actually a double album!
Right at the stroke of midnight on the East Coast, fans got to hear her new music — and were almost immediately greeted by a clock counting down to 2 a.m. ET.
When the time came, Swift didn’t disappoint, and revealed the existence of 15 extra songs not previously announced.
“It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album. ✌️ I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology,” Swift wrote. “15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.”
In the lead-up to the 2 a.m. reveal, speculated wildly as the time approached, without many clues as to what the announcement could be.
However, some eagle-eyed fans noticed that, at the Spotify pop-up library dedicated to The Tortured Poets Department — which is set up at The Grove in West Hollywood — almost none of the lyrics featured in the carefully curated exhibit appear in songs on the hotly anticipated album.
She also teased the number 2 repeatedly over the past few weeks, in small ways that fans interpreted as a subtle clue that the album would be a two-parter — a conspiracy theory that proved to pan out.
Swift announced the first half of the album’s release earlier in the evening, with a philosophical and contemplative post to X (formerly Twitter) that addressed the themes of the album — including breakups, self-reflection and healing.
“The Tortured Poets Department. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time — one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure,” Swift wrote. “This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted.”
“This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it,” she continued. “And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.”
Within minutes of the release, fans began to realize just how emotional the new album truly is. The tracks deal with the nuances and pain of heartbreak, failed romances, the pain of seeing your dreams for the future radically change, and eventually healing and mending emotional and psychological wounds.
Swift first announced the news of Tortured Poets onstage at the GRAMMYs while accepting her 13th trophy from the Recording Academy in February. At the time, Swift teased that the project had been in the works for two years. Then, during an Eras Tour stop in Tokyo, Japan, Swift further elaborated on the timeline.
“I’ve been working on Tortured Poets since right after I turned in Midnights,” she told the audience, clarifying that albums are submitted “months in advance” so they can be finalized.
