By Nell Geraets
Taylor Swift has officially announced her next studio album following days of rampant fan speculation.
The album, titled The Life of a Showgirl, will be the pop juggernaut’s 12th studio album, and the first released since she regained full ownership of her music in May. The release date is yet to be announced.
Taylor Swift has officially announced her next studio album.Credit: Getty Images
The singer announced the album’s name on social media via her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast, New Heights. The album cover, however, remains a mystery.
“So, I wanted to show you something,” she said in the video before whipping out a mint green briefcase with “TS” emblazoned on the front in orange. She then took out what appeared to be an album vinyl, which was completely blurred out, prompting Kelce and his co-host and brother, Jason, to react with shouts of excitement.
News of the album confirmed rumours that had been swirling around the Swiftie community for months. The rumours reached a fever pitch on Tuesday, when a mysterious countdown with a sparkly orange background appeared on Swift’s official website, which was set to “expire” on August 12 at 12.12am ET (2.12pm AEDT).
The site appeared to crash shortly before the clock was due to time out, sending fans scrambling for answers on social media. However, the site was up-and-running again a few minutes later, offering Swifties a chance to “pre pre-order” the album’s vinyl, cassette or CD and poster.
Elsewhere, it was confirmed that the singer would appear as a special guest on New Heights, the sports podcast hosted by the Kelce brothers. For all the Swifties out there, this was a long time coming, since she and the Kansas City Chiefs player have been dating since 2023.
Swift’s appearance on the podcast was confirmed via the New Heights account on X, which on Tuesday posted a teaser showing Swift and Kelce riffing on why they “match so well” (spoiler: it’s apparently because Kelce wears a light blue sweater that matches the colour of Swift’s eyes).
“We’re about to do a f---ing podcast,” the singer said at the end of the clip, which will be released in full at 9am on Thursday (AEDT).
Some believed the timing of the New Heights announcement (the post dropped at 12pm on August 12), paired with the countdown clock, was a clear nod towards Swift’s upcoming album.
Meanwhile, Taylor Nation – the singer’s official marketing team and fan club – posted 12 photos to Instagram of Swift wearing various orange outfits during her record-breaking Eras Tour. The caption read: “Thinking about when she said, ‘See you next era …’”
The number of photos in the gallery (12) and their matching orange colour palette had Swift fans again wondering whether it was all one big Easter egg for her next album. After all, the Love Story singer is known for dropping hints and clues for her loyal fans to decipher.
Though most fans were certain they could expect a new studio album, there were other possibilities. Some believed Swift was gearing up to re-release her debut album, which she previously said is already complete. Others thought they could be awaiting vault tracks from Reputation (Taylor’s Version).
Before taking back her entire discography, the pop star had released re-recorded “Taylor’s versions” of four of her albums – Fearless, Red, Speak Now and 1989. However, a second iteration of Reputation was never released, despite waves of ongoing speculation. In an open letter on her website in May, Swift referred directly to the rerecording of Reputation and admitted she hadn’t even re-recorded a “quarter of it” yet.
Taylor Swift’s official website had a countdown clock that hit zero at 2:12pm (AEST).
“The Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life, and I kept hitting a stopping point when I tried to remake it,” she wrote.
Sharing an album via a podcast is a new approach for Swift, who has been partial to more public-facing, grand announcements. For example, she revealed her 11th studio album at the 66th Grammy Awards, and her 10th at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.
The announcement of The Life of a Showgirl comes 15 months after the release of The Tortured Poets Department. Though reviews for the 31-track album were mixed, it still became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day less than 12 hours after its release. It also became the first album to amass more than 300 million streams in a single day.
It was released in the midst of Swift’s global Eras Tour, now the highest-grossing music tour of all time that spanned 21 months and five continents.
Since the Eras Tour wrapped in December, Swift has been laying relatively low, only seen via the occasional paparazzi shot of her alongside her NFL boyfriend.
While taking a temporary break from performing, the pop icon has been working on other projects, including her directorial debut with Searchlight Pictures. Details around the plot remain scarce; however, it has been confirmed that Swift wrote the script herself.
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