American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has surprised her fans by unexpectedly releasing a double album titled ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. The album, which dropped in the early hours of Friday, also includes 15 additional tracks.
In an Instagram post, Swift explained, “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 instalment: The Anthology. 15 extra songs.”
Before, Swift described the album as “A collection of new songs that capture moments, opinions, and feelings from a brief and uncertain period – one that was both exciting and sad at the same time.” She added that this period of her life is now over, and the album is a way to release her emotions and move on. Swift believes that putting her sadness into words has a healing effect. Fans are guessing about the people behind the emotional lyrics in the album, especially in songs about relationships that didn’t work out, like ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’ and ‘Guilty as Sin?’.
While Swift hasn’t mentioned any names, fans are guessing that she might be talking about her short relationship with Matty Healy from The 1975 band or her former long-time boyfriend, actor Joe Alwyn.
Another track, ‘The Alchemy’, with references to American football, seems to be inspired by her new relationship with Travis Kelce, a player for the Kansas City Chiefs. ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is Swift’s 11th studio album, following the success of her recent ‘The Eras Tour’, which became the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Music journalists have had different opinions about the surprise double album, with some liking the mystery in the lyrics while others wonder if people will still be interested after the initial excitement.
