Highly anticipating the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version), fans were stunned when Taylor Swift instead hard launched news of her next album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 4. Looks like the TS 11 era had already begun right under our noses.
The color scheme of TTPD, easily mistakable for Rep‘s, has been revealed to follow the suit of the singer’s sixth album, but with an emphasis on white rather than Reputation’s infamous black. However, despite Reputation and TTPD appearing the same in Easter egg outfits, website glitches, and emoji choices, Swift’s highly anticipated album is already shaping up to be much different compared to eras past. Here’s everything we know so far, and of course, what fans are theorizing, too!Â
Based on Swift’s Feb. 4 Instagram post announcing TTPD, the overall vibe of the album seems very introspective and figurative. Many fans are expressing interest in seeing a folklore/evermore/Midnights style album in terms of illustrative production and sophisticated lyricism. The inclusion of abstract and symbolic language in the introductory passage for the album has led fans to ponder the possibility of the album featuring the remaining 2020 folk tracks written during quarantine, which would make it the third sister album to folklore and evermore. In fact, many fans are equating the vibe of the album to that of the bonus track from folklore, “the lakes,” which features dramatic imagery and instrumentals. Â
Shortly after its announcement, fans were quick to point out the similarity between the title of the album and a ghost of years past, none other than the singer’s most recently split ex of six years: Joe Alwyn. Drawing a parallel between The Tortured Poets Department and a WhatsApp group chat of Alwyn’s called “The Tortured Man Club,” fans have begun to speculate that TTPD will be a breakup album. Â
On Monday, Feb. 5, Swift dropped the back cover featuring the tracklist via her Instagram. The post revealed 16 songs plus one bonus track. Not only was it lengthier, but also the names alone are much different than those of her existing discography, with many seeming as though they might pertain to storytelling types of songs. Â
“Clara Bow” is believed to pull inspiration from the famous 1920’s Hollywood actress’ public burnout. Bow’s love life quickly became the subject of rumor mills and overtook her reputation, ultimately resulting in a public breakdown and retirement from the industry. This track will likely reflect Swift’s own struggle with stardom and mirror the message of “The Lucky One” from her album Red.Â
The fifth track “So Long, London” appears to not only be a dig at her English ex, but also her very own Lover track “London Boy,” which was dedicated to Alwyn. Tracks like “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” and “But Daddy I Love Him” have further fueled talk of the supposed breakup album. The track titles have also prompted countless jokes about Alwyn no longer being “safe” from Swift’s breakup songs, in which he was previously limited to Midnights’ “You’re Losing Me (From The Vault).” Â
Many fans believe that the caption on the album’s announcement post reading, “All’s fair in love and poetry…” references the expression “All’s fair in love and war.” Because of this, many believe that Swift’s expression of war is through her words, specifically her songs, and that she’s out for Alwyn’s throat. So, good luck to him come April 19, because it’s looking like Swift is all in for battle. Â
The TTPD is rumored to be registered on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music under a synth-pop genre, leading to a hot-or-not debate among Swifties. Because of this, many believe the album’s production will sound similar to 1989, which is arguably considered to be Swift’s most popular album. However, some claim this theory won’t hold true because of the recent Midnights being labeled rock when it’s been colloquially considered a pop album. However, there’s no official evidence pointing to an established genre, so all genre-pertaining theories are based on speculation and rumors.
With The Tortured Poets Department still being only a couple of days post-announcement, there really isn’t too much to know about it yet. The good news is you can leave it to the Swifties to do the work and theorize it all for you. There’s a good chance that something will be accurate!Â
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