Taylor Swift announced the title weeks ago, apparently so brainy, 'The Tortured Poets Department', very far from others like 'Red', 'Fearless', 'Reputation' or 'Love'. But at two in the morning on the day of the premiere, a new tweet from Taylor appeared: «Two in the morning surprise: the album will be a secret double album. “I have written too much tortured poetry these last two years and I wanted to share it.” So, the marketing and the news is that we have 31 songs to dive into on this eleventh studio album from Swift. There are fans who are not so happy with this: the pre-sale of the “simple” album (16 songs) has already accumulated thousands of orders and many of them will now end up buying the album twice.
It's a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album. ✌️ I'd written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here's the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn't mine… pic.twitter.com/y8pyDK8VTd
—Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 19, 2024
An album, of a lifetime, also catches the eye. Much more so if we talk about mass pop. Swift announced the name of the album as she was collecting a Grammy (it was about two months ago, it was difficult to choose a better speaker), but since that morning her social networks and her website had changed to black and white, almost with a sepia touch. A change in mentality that prepares us to enter a universe more of fireplace and blanket than large stadiums. More relaxed tempos, elegant synths and more whispers than screams. Of course, in 31 songs there is room for everything: 'I can do it with a broken heart' is almost electropop.
The first song, 'Fortnight' (a music video premiere is expected imminently) contains one of the two credited collaborations, quite unexpected: the rapper Post Malone. The other brings Taylor a little closer to the indie world: Florence Welsh, from Florence + The Machine (the song is 'Florida!!!', and Florence demonstrates a personality when it comes to singing that dwarfs Swift a bit). You always have to look at collaborations with a magnifying glass to find out the direction, the new audience niches that an artist wants to achieve today.
The double and single version of 'The Tortured Poets Department' by Taylor Swift
R.C.
There is another name to mention, in fairness: the soul of Swift's sound, and of the great change towards maturity, is Jack Antonoff, producer of most of the album, who has been collaborating with her for more than ten years in addition to working with Lorde or Lana del Rey. We can find these master touches, for example, in the instruments of 'I can fix him'. And one last vector in the equation: Aaron Dessner, from The National (the kings of elegance), produces the rest of the songs. All, of course, under the direction of Swift, who also appears as a producer on all the songs.
Swift has just become strong in her own narrative: her documentaries, especially 'Miss Americana', convinced legions of new fans to side with her, her tour breaks all records, and her unprecedented policy of re-recordings is also an example. We are referring to the new versions of her first albums, to which she lost the rights. Now she recovers them the most difficult way: re-recording them from start to finish, renaming them 'Taylor's version' and trusting that people will know how to distinguish them on digital platforms.
Taylor Swift discography timeline and sales numbers
'Taylor Swift' (2006)
'The Tortured Poets Department'
(2024)
(The number of sales is an approximate figure)
Taylor Swift discography timeline and sales numbers
'Taylor Swift' (2006)
'The Tortured Poets Department'
(2024)
(The number of sales is an approximate figure)
Taylor Swift discography timeline and sales numbers
'Taylor Swift' (2006)
'The Tortured Poets Department'
(2024)
(The number of sales is an approximate figure)
In the album in question, Taylor takes revenge with gusto, she expresses herself forcefully, for example, in 'Who's afraid of little old me'. Too many things were happening to him recently: since 2020 he has released four albums and re-recorded another four, he has embarked on one of the most colossal tours in history, practically having to invent draconian ticket raffle systems. And furthermore, the international press insists on showing her as the best anti-Trump asset for the Democrats in the November elections. A lot of pressure on Taylor, no doubt.
But the fans, what they call “the army of swifties”, are interested in something else: searching the lyrics from top to bottom looking for hidden references to their courtships. Almost all the songs talk about love or lost love, for example 'loml', short for “love of my life”. There are several candidates, but the English actor Joe Alwyn stands out, with whom he spent six years, until 2023 (we could see him in 'Conversations between Friends', the series inspired by the novel by Sally Rooney). But The 1975's singer, Matt Healy, may also deserve part of the songs. An enigmatic reference is that of Clara Bow, an actress from the 1920s. Be that as it may, we are faced with a bunch of new songs that continue on the path of the previous albums: we know that she is a billionaire superstar, but she makes an effort to let us know that she also feels… a tortured poet.
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