Taylor Swift is taking fans on a journey of the stages of grief and heartbreak in her new album The Tortured Poets Department, released on Friday.
The singer-songwriter unveiled the album which featured 16 songs. Two tracks are collaborations with Post Malone and Florence + The Machine. There are also four bonus tracks, “The Manuscript,” “The Bolter,” “The Albatross” and “The Black Dog” that are featured on different vinyl versions of the album.
Ahead of the album’s release, Swift revealed that the album’s first single would be “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone. “I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever. I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on ‘Fortnight,’” Swift wrote on Instagram alongside a photo with Post Malone.
Spotify also revealed on Thursday that the album became the most pre-saved album Countdown Page in the history of the audio streamer.
In April, Swift had surprised fans by announcing the upcoming album while accepting the Grammy for best pop vocal album.
“This is my 13th Grammy,” Swift said when accepting the award. “I want to say thank you to the members of the Recording Academy for voting this way, but I know that the way that the Recording Academy voted is a direct reflection of the passion of the fans. So I want to say ‘thank you’ to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last two years — which is that my brand new album comes out April 19.”
After making the announcement, Swift further teased the upcoming album on social media by sharing the album cover which showed her laying in bed in a black-and-white image. She also teased, “And so I enter into evidence / My tarnished coat of arms / My muses, acquired like bruises / My talismans and charms / The tick, tick, tick of love bombs / My veins of pitch black ink / All’s fair in love and poetry.”
In the weeks ahead of the album’s release, the singer offered further insight into the album, which fans have speculated would be about her breakup with ex-boyfriend actor Joe Alwyn. Fans have also pointed how similar the album’s title is with the “Tortured Man Club” WhatsApp group chat that Alwyn said he’s part of with Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. Tracks on the album also seem to hint at a breakup and the British actor with titles including “So Long, London” and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.”
Swift confirmed that heartbreak would be a major theme of the album as she released five exclusive playlists with Apple Music that explore the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
Swift also teased the first lyric from the album ahead of the total solar eclipse on April 8, when she posted video of a typewriter typing, “Crowd goes wild at her fingertips/Half moonshine, Full eclipse.”
Ahead of the album release, Swift‘s music returned to TikTok, months after being pulled as part of the ongoing dispute between the social video platform and Universal Music Group, which distributes Swift’s music.
The album follows Swift’s previously released Midnights album in October 2022, which won the Grammy for best pop vocal album and album of the year.