Step aside, tortured poets. It’s a showgirl era now.
On Tuesday morning, Taylor Swift announced her new LP, “The Life of a Showgirl,” and here’s everything — a meager bounty, for now — that we know about it.
When did she announce it?
Word arrived after a countdown clock to 12:12 a.m. — an apropos debut for news of her 12th album. Swift made the announcement on “New Heights,” the popular podcast co-hosted by her boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce.
Who worked with her on it?
While there’s no information yet about a tracklist or collaborators, shortly after the news, a string of billboards in New York and Nashville directed fans to a Spotify playlist titled “And, baby, that’s show business for you.” It’s full of previously-released Swift hits produced by Max Martin and Shellback, suggesting the pop superproducers had prominent roles on the new record.
If that theory holds, it might mean a departure from her longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, who helmed “Poets” and the Grammy-winning albums “Midnights” and “Folklore.”
When will it be released?
There’s no release date, but it’s available for preorder on Swift’s website now. The cover art is — assuming this isn’t some misdirection — a cryptic minty green background and sparkly orange padlock.
Didn’t she just release a 31-track album last year?
Swift has been relentless in releasing new music over the last few years. In 2024, she released “The Tortured Poets Department,” followed by a massive “Anthology” edition of bonus tracks, which made “Poets” the bestselling album of the year.
What’s up with the final “Taylor’s Version” albums?
Swift re-purchased her back catalog of master recordings, first released through Big Machine Records, from investment group Shamrock Capital for a rumored nine-figure sum. Swift’s rerecorded “Taylor’s Version” editions of those albums were a popular rebuttal to her old nemesis Scooter Braun’s purchase of her catalog.
While two of those “Taylor’s Version” LPs (her self-titled debut and “Reputation”) remain unreleased or unfinished, she now plans to reissue the originals as well.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
