(New York) Surprise, it’s not an album, but a double album that fans of pop star Taylor Swift had the pleasure of discovering on Friday, an eleventh opus XXL version already promised to break all records.
The album The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) or “The Circle of Tortured Poets” was made public as expected on Friday at midnight New York time.
Two hours later, 15 other titles appeared as if by magic, panicking his many fans, the “Swifties”.
“ The Tortured Poets Department is a secret double album,” the American singer who became a global megastar posted overnight.
And to explain: “I’ve written a lot of tortured poetry over the last two years and I wanted to share it all with you, so here is the second part of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 additional songs. And now the story is no longer mine…it’s all yours.”
A new coup for the 34-year-old singer, who knew how to use social networks to create a feeling of intimacy with her audience, but also to keep them in suspense.
Taylor Swift has thus gotten into the habit of distiling information on her future releases, and this album has not failed to panic the web, where all the theories about it have circulated.
Thirty-one tracks, more than two hours of song, in which Taylor Swift looks back on her romantic disappointments and exorcises her demons, a recipe that makes her successful.
In China, fans were able to participate in offline listening sessions of the new album in more than 30 cities.
Exes, rap and rock
This eleventh opus follows a year 2023 and a start to the year 2024 of all records for the star. Earlier this year, Taylor Swift became the first artist to become a billionaire solely from her music.
In February, she won for the fourth time the trophy for best album of the year at the Grammy Awards, the prestigious American music awards.
His world tour, Eras Tour, is expected to garner a total of two billion dollars in revenue, having already broken the symbolic ceiling of one billion last year – a historic first. And the singer also broke box office records with her film Eras Tour.
But the year 2023 also saw the singer separate from British actor Joe Alwyn after six years of relationship. Taylor Swift then went out with singer Matty Healy of the rock group The 1975. Separations which she returns to in this new album.
The name of the opus would thus be taken from a group discussion called The Tortured Man Club that the actor held with Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, two other actors.
PHOTO PATRICK T. FALLON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Announcing its release, Taylor Swift described the album as “an anthology of new works that reflect the events, opinions and feelings of a fleeting, fatalistic moment – one that was both sensational and sad in equal measure.”
And specified: “this period of the author’s life is now over”.
Returning, without taking any gloves off, to her former companions, has become a tradition for Taylor Swift. His current companion is American football star Travis Kelce, recent Super Bowl winner.
In the title The Alchemy, Taylor Swift gushes about the relationship, describing the dopamine rush created by being in love and singing “who are we honestly to fight chemistry?” “.
The Tortured Poets Department also contains collaborations with the British rock group Florence + The Machine and the American rapper Post Malone, who accompanies him on the first track Fortnight.
Three weeks after Beyoncé
The Pennsylvania native has been writing songs since she was a teenager, getting her start in the country capital of Nashville.
By gradually moving away from this very American style, she is climbing the rankings. In 2018, she left the Big Machine label and joined Universal, without the rights to her previous albums.
By re-recording her first records to regain control, she managed to convince her fans and the music industry, another tour de force for this essential artist.
With 283 million subscribers on Instagram, she is so influential among American youth that the political world is beginning to imagine the impact she could have on the presidential election in November.
Her new album landed on platforms three weeks after that of another American icon: Beyoncé and her Cowboy Carter. This new opus with rich country influences could be a competitor for the next Grammy. With perhaps, also, the new album of another star: Billie Eilish is released Hit Me Hard and Soft on May 17.
reference: www.lapresse.ca