Taylor Swift fans rejoice: The chart-topping pop star, who’s been largely avoiding the spotlight since concluding the Eras Tour last December, has officially set another new era in motion.
Swift announced Tuesday that her 12th studio album is titled “The Life of a Showgirl.” She made the big reveal in a teaser from her forthcoming appearance on “New Heights,” the podcast hosted by her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and his brother, Jason Kelce. Swift shows Jason the album cover in the brief clip, but it’s blurred out.
The full episode will premiere on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and likely include more details about the album rollout — but preorder details from Swift’s online store reveal that physical copies will be shipped sometime before October 13.
The singer’s most attentive followers, aka “Swifties,” are constantly keeping an eye out for Easter eggs and hints of new music — but speculation ramped up on Monday when Taylor Nation, the social media arm of Swift’s PR team, shared a collection of 12 photos from the Eras Tour, all of Swift wearing different shades of orange.
The caption said, “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era…'” with a burning-heart emoji.
Even casual observers of Swift may recognize her custom of color-coding album cycles. Each color usually corresponds with the album’s artwork and, in some cases, its lyrics and themes.
Such was the case for 2012’s “Red,” named for the color Swift associates with passionate, reckless love affairs, and 2017’s “Reputation,” an album whose black-and-white aesthetic was partially intended to evoke newsprint.
Later that day, Swift’s official website was updated with a countdown to 12:12 a.m. on Tuesday, August 12, set against a sparkly orange backdrop. (The numeric repetition is another of Swift’s calling cards.)
“The Life of a Showgirl” will be Swift’s first new album since announcing that she bought back her masters, giving her complete ownership of her musical catalog and effectively rendering her “Taylor’s Version” project moot. Before the big reveal in May, Swifties had been eagerly anticipating the rerecorded version of “Reputation,” her fan-favorite sixth album — though Swift has since confessed she has no imminent plans to release it.
“To be perfectly honest, it’s the one album in those first 6 that I thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it,” Swift wrote in an open letter to fans. She added that she did finish rerecording her self-titled debut album — the only other missing entry in the “Taylor’s Version” series — though she didn’t clarify when it might come to light.
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“Those two albums can still have their moments to reemerge when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about,” she wrote. “But if it happens, it won’t be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now.”
Instead, Swifties will soon get fresh tracks from the prolific songwriter. “The Life of a Showgirl” is the follow-up to 2024’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” a colossal double album that topped the Billboard 200 chart for 17 weeks — the longest reign of Swift’s career thus far — and spawned the No. 1 hit single “Fortnight.”
Swifties have already circulated theories about a Sabrina Carpenter duet
TAS2024/Getty Images for TAS
In the final photo that Taylor Nation shared on Monday, Swift is singing onstage with Sabrina Carpenter, her fan-turned-protégé and Eras Tour opener.
Swifties took her inclusion as a clue that Carpenter is featured on “The Life of a Showgirl.” The theory is far from outlandish: Carpenter is releasing her album in August, “Man’s Best Friend,” so she’s definitely been in the studio. Moreover, she’s been working closely with Jack Antonoff, Swift’s go-to music producer. Antonoff coproduced Carpenter’s latest single, “Manchild.”
Swift previously collaborated with another Eras Tour opener; her duet with Gracie Abrams, “Us,” was included on Abrams’ 2024 album “The Secret of Us” and nominated for a 2025 Grammy.
This story is developing. Please check back for additional updates.
