When Taylor Swift changed her social media profile pictures to black and white and wore long black gloves at the 66th Annual Grammy awards, everyone expected her to announce the release of Reputation, her 2017 album. Swift has been rerecording her albums after manager Scooter Braun claimed rights to them in 2019, so this was the next logical step for her career. When the beloved artist mounted the stage, onlookers in the audience and at home held their breaths in anticipation of the news. Needless to say, everyone was shocked when she instead announced the release of The Tortured Poets Department, her 11th studio album.
On April 19th, Swift made good on her promise, releasing The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) with 16 new tracks. The same day, Swift announced the drop of a music video — for the album’s opening track, “Fortnight (ft. Post Malone).” Swifties everywhere thought they could happily listen to the songs and get some sleep. However, hours later, at 2 AM, Swift released The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, a version of the album which features an additional 15 songs. The release of 31 new Taylor Swift songs left fans scrambling to keep up with the new content.
Like Swift’s past projects, TTPD has already broken musical records. The album claimed the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 chart shortly after its release. Additionally, TTPD sold over 2.6 million copies within its first week and holds the record for the biggest streaming debut for an album in history. “Fortnight (ft. Post Malone)” even broke Spotify’s record for most streamed song in a single day on April 19th.
So why did The Tortured Poets Department generate so much of a buzz? Many thought that the Swift phenomenon had ended. However, the album’s success can at least partially be attributed to Swift’s masterful marketing techniques. By teasing “Reputation” and then dropping an entirely new album, Swift had fans salivating over all of her new content — new songs, new merch, and even a new music video. Business-savvy Swift has turned newness into a commodity for fans to consume.
The Tortured Poets Department is perhaps one of Swift’s most honest and vulnerable albums. It’s undeniably a breakup album — heartbreak and betrayal are evident in lyrics like “You swore that you loved me but where were the clues? / I died on the altar waiting for the proof” (“So Long, London”) and “There was danger in the heat of my touch / He saw forever so he smashed it up” (“My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”).
What really resonates with fans, though, are the album’s themes of mental health and the strife that comes with being a successful woman in a world that doesn’t support or respect them. The Tortured Poets Department grants audiences unprecedented access to Swift’s innermost anxieties, issues, and perfection in the public eye.
We “hung [her] on [our] wall[s] / Stabbed [her] with [our] push pins.” We made her “promise to be dazzling.” But, ultimately, despite all of the trials and scrutiny Taylor has endured day in and day out, she has cultivated herself into the massive, celebrated pop icon that she is today.
The Tortured Poets Department may be one of Taylor Swift’s most sonically and lyrically complex albums. Because of her collaborations with well-known artists such as Post Malone and Florence the Machine and her incredible vocals, Swift has constructed an album that longtime fans and music enthusiasts alike will enjoy.
The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology and The Tortured Poets Department are both available on all streaming platforms and wherever music is sold.