Taylor Swift shared a special message to fans who pre-saved her upcoming eleventh album, The Tortured Poets Department, on Apple Music.
After the platform made the highly anticipated record available to save ahead of its release next month, Swifties were thrilled to hear a ballot from pop star 34.
“Hello Apple Music, it’s Taylor,” she said in the recording. “Thanks for adding The Tortured Poets Department in advance.”
She continued, “I’m very proud to share it with you on April 19th. I can’t wait for you to hear it!’
Taylor Swift shared a special message to fans who pre-saved her upcoming eleventh album, The Tortured Poets Department, on Apple Music; seen in September 2023
In addition to the voice note, the album’s tracklist confirmed that this would be her most explicit record to date, with seven songs containing “swear words or language deemed sexual, violent or offensive in nature.”
The songs confirmed to be explicit are Down Bad, But Daddy I Love Him, IomI, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, Florida!!! and the title track.
Apple Music also classified the record’s genre as pop, which is the same category as some of her most beloved albums, including Red, 1989, Lover, Reputation and Midnights.
Swift announced The Tortured Poets Department while accepting her 13th Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights last month.
Overnight, her fans started trying to match song names to her ex-boyfriends, including Harry Styles and Joe Alwyn.
An eagle-eyed Twitter user pointed out that there is a song called So Long, London – which could refer to British-born Joe, 32.
Another referring to Joe read: ‘So long, London, the smallest man who ever lived, my boy only breaks his favorite toys, I can fix him (no, I really can) BYE JOE ALWYN.’
Another fan wrote: ‘LONDON FOR SO LONG?? I LOVE YOU IT CHANGE MY LIFE?? Joe Alwyn count your days #THETORTUEDPOETSDEPARTMENT.”
After the platform made the highly anticipated breakup record available to save ahead of its release next month, Swifties were thrilled to hear a ballot from the pop star, 34
“Hello Apple Music, it’s Taylor,” she said in the recording. ‘Thanks for adding The Tortured Poets Department in advance’
She continued, “I’m very proud to share it with you on April 19th. I can’t wait for you to hear it!’
Taylor dated the actor for six years before their shock breakup in early 2023.
Additionally, some think the album title is also a reference to Joe and could be a wild nod to the group chat Joe shared with his friends Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott.
In 2022, Joe revealed that a mutual friend had started a WhatsApp group with him and Paul called The Tortured Man Club.
They later explained to Variety that Andrew “started the group,” with Paul saying, “He’s just working on it every day.” He’s just dealing with it.’
Joe jokingly added, “I’m just sending myself a good morning.”
Fans went crazy, with one medal on X: ‘THIS IS THE BREAKUP ALBUM’
Another wrote: ‘I hope for Joe’s sake he still has that group chat. I feel like he needs it.”
Others made the connection with singer Harry Styles, 30, after the tracklist was revealed.
In addition to the voice note, the album’s tracklist confirmed that this would be her most explicit record to date, with seven songs containing “swear words or language considered sexual, violent or offensive in nature” (seen at a performance earlier this month in Singapore)
The songs confirmed to be explicit are Down Bad, But Daddy I Love Him, IomI, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, Florida!!! and the title track
One of them noticed a song called ‘loml’, which could be a reference to one of Harry’s songs called Love of My Life.
One fan shared a screenshot of the songs side by side, writing on Twitter: “No, sorry…”
Another fan pointed out that one of Taylor’s new songs is called But Daddy I Love Him – after Harry once wore a T-shirt with the But Daddy I Love Him logo on it.
The fan shared the photo of Harry in the outfit alongside the track name and excitedly wrote: “EXCUSE ME?!?!!!!!!!!”
Taylor and Harry dated from late 2012 to early 2013, and the star has had several songs written about him in the past.
Taylor shared the full track list for her brand new album Tortured Poets Department in February, which features collaborations with two top artists.
Post Malone and Florence + the Machine will be featured on the album, which will be released on April 19.
Taylor shared a photo of a piece of art on Instagram for good measure, featuring a black and white photo of herself and “I love you, it’s ruining my life” written over her shoulder, as well as the song list.
Side A begins with the Post Malone collaboration, Fortnight, and is followed by the album’s title track, My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys and Down Bad.
While side B So Long, London, But Daddy I Love Him, Fresh Out the Slammer and Florida!!! contains Florence + the Machine in the last song.
Side C offers Guilty as Sin?, Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?, I Can Fix Him (No, I Really Can) and ‘Ioml’.
The final part of the album, Side D, contains I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, The Alchemy and Clara Bow.
The four bonus tracks include The Manuscript, The Bolter, The Albatross and The Black Dog.
Referring to the album’s release date, the post was simply captioned: “April 19th (white heart emoji).”
The Blank Space singer announced the release of her album at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
In her acceptance speech, she said: “I would like to thank the members of the Recording Academy for voting in this way.
“But I know the way the Recording Academy voted is a direct reflection of the fans’ passion.
“So I want to thank the fans by letting you in on a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the past two years, which is that my brand new album is coming out on April 19th.”
At the time, Swift’s friend, Travis Kelce, confirmed he had heard bits of the record.
“I heard about it, yeah, and it’s unbelievable,” the Kansas City Chiefs tight end said at a press conference in Las Vegas ahead of the Super Bowl, according to The Kansas City star.
“I can’t wait for her to shake up the world when it finally comes crashing down,” Travis said.
Kelce was coy about revealing his favorite song from the new album – after Taylor shared the 17-song tracklist – replying: “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
However, Kelce did reveal his favorite Taylor song.
“Right now I’d probably say ‘Anti-Hero’ just because I hear it every day,” he said.
Swift’s friend, Travis Kelce, confirmed he heard bits of the record last month and said it’s ‘incredible’ (Pictured January 28, 2024)
Of Taylor’s big wins at the Grammys, he said, “She’s incredible. She rewrites the history books herself.’
Kelce also noted the influence Swift has had in bringing new fans to football: “She definitely brought a lot of new faces to the sport,” he said.
“Taylor has an incredible fan base who have followed and supported her throughout her life. It was fun to bring the Swifties together in Chiefs Kingdom and open them up to the world of football and sports.”
At one point he was also asked point-blank, “What’s it like dating Taylor Swift?”
“Man, I tell you what, it’s a wild experience,” Kelce replied. “But I enjoy and enjoy every bit of it.”