Recently, Taylor Swift announced that she would release her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19, 2024. Swift announced that there would be a surprise at 2 AM on the morning of the release date, and the surprise ended up being a double album release consisting of 31 songs.
In the past, Swift has done things similar to this, such as announcing her ninth studio album, Folklore, the day before it was released, and announcing her seventh album, Reputation, via an Instagram post after having gone completely offline and being inactive for a year prior.
Many of her fans had suspected a double album drop, as Swift has been using hints with the number two ever since she announced the album. She was consistently seen using peace signs, and posting on social media with the number two.
This album is Swift’s first breakup album since her fourth studio album, Red, which was released in 2012. In 2017, Swift began being open about her newest relationship with actor Joe Alwyn. They had been dating for 6 years until they had broken up in early 2023.
In between then, Swift had released 5 studio albums that she had written with and/or about Alwyn; there has been lots of speculation about The Tortured Poets Department and how many songs would be about Alwyn, and how deep of a dive into their relationship she would take.
Though the album is a breakup album, there are a few songs on it that are about her current relationship with Kansas City Chiefs Tight End, Travis Kelce. In her most popular one, “So High School,” Swift explores new areas she has yet to talk about in her songs, such as how Kelce makes her feel “so high school.”
She mentions high school cliches such as the game “Kiss, Marry or Kill”, “Spin the Bottle”, and “Truth or Dare.”
“It really delved into the sweet, loving part of her new relationship, and I just thought that it was really satisfying to see Taylor Swift so happy,” sophomore Kady Gamble explained.
On this album, Swift had multiple co-writers on her songs, and each writers’ style comes through in every song. Aaron Dessner, Swift’s friend and co-writer, helped contribute to a few of Swift’s previous albums such as Folklore and Evermore, her eighth and ninth studio albums. Both of which are largely considered to be her saddest albums, as well as contributing to her most recent album.
The songs he helped write on The Tortured Poets Department are also considered to be some of her saddest songs, so it’s evident that Swift really let him influence the album. The same is thought about writer/producer Jack Antonoff, who tends to produce more pop influenced songs, as the songs on the album he helped work on had more pop-based beats and rhythms.
Overall, the highly anticipated album The Tortured Poets Department seems to be a huge success, with many fans loving it, with some saying it’s one of their favorites. The diversity in production style throughout the album definitely gives self-proclaimed “Swifties” a rollercoaster of emotions while listening to it and the lyricism does a fantastic job of painting a picture for listeners.
