Taylor Swift Announces 11th Studio Album 'Tortured Poets Department' After Winning 13th Grammy
Taylor Swift
Brace yourselves, Swifties: Taylor Swift's 11th studio album is officially on the way!
After winning her 13th Grammy—Pop Vocal Album for Midnights—the superstar announced that her next project will be a brand new record, rather than another rerecording as many suspected she would announce on the evening of Feb 4.
The pop star revealed the album's cover in a follow-up Instagram post, where she confirmed the new music would be out on April 19, 2024.
"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," she seemed to tease some of the lyrics in the second slide of the post. "All's fair in love and poetry... sincerely, The Chairman of The Tortured Poets Department."
Eagle-eyed fans noticed ahead of the ceremony that Swift had changed her social media profile photos to be a black and white version of her Midnights album cover, in addition to her website being down, suggesting that a new era could be coming.
At a glance, one may have assumed that the site was down for maintenance, but upon a closer look, some realized that the error code provided wasn’t real, and that if you unscrambled part of it it proved to be an anagram for “red herring.”
RED HERRING. UNSCRAMBLED. pic.twitter.com/mPaTclhf7q
— raquel lynn ?? Eras London June 22 (@taylor_feed) February 4, 2024
She's since changed her profile photo to be the new album cover, which is a black and white snapshot of the singer sprawled across a set of giant pillows.
Previously, Swifties were convinced that Nov. 26 would be the next album announcement, for Reputation (Taylor's Version). Fans noticed subtle outfit changes featuring the era's colors—black, silver and gold—in the shows leading up to the reveal.
Swifties also took note when Swift busted a Reputation-era move on stage while singing "except when I'm on TV" during "Midnight Rain."
Another sign pointing to Reputation TV, according to fans, was her on-stage winking during Swift’s first and second S?o Paulo concerts. Following the Speak Now section, Swift turned to the camera and winked before walking offstage.
With this new album, the clock officially restarts for Swifties to start searching for clues in the singer's every move until the next rerecording is announced.