What We Know About Taylor Swift's New Album
- Lauren DiGiovanni
- Aug 30
- 3 min read
Taylor Swift announced her 12th studio album at 12:12 am on August 12th, and we here at Pop Passion are so excited! The album is titled The Life of a Showgirl, which is dropping on October 3rd of this year. She revealed the album cover alongside fiancé Travis Kelce on the New Heights Podcast on August 13th. As of now, here’s what we know about Taylor Swift’s new album!
Taylor was seen on the last night of The Eras Tour in December 2024 exiting not through her usual lift, but through an orange door at the back of the stage. She applauded the fans for noticing it, and revealed on the podcast that it was, in fact, an easter egg for the album. Taylor Nation, her management team, posted 12 pictures of Taylor at The Eras Tour in orange with the caption “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era…’” with a flaming orange heart emoji on August 11th. Later that day, a sparky orange and green countdown appears on Taylor’s website ending at 12:12 am on August 12th. However, the cover was blurred with an orange lock edited on top, and a clip was posted of the soon-to-be-released podcast episode with Taylor holding the vinyl that was also blurred out. The podcast released the next day on the 13th, where Taylor discusses the album and its inspirations.
The vibe of this album is glitzy and glamorous, but details Taylor’s personal life behind the showgirl we saw onstage at The Eras Tour. The album artwork, featured on 6 different limited edition CD and vinyls in addition to the original cover, is reminiscent of old Hollywood showgirls. All the photos feature Taylor drenched in jewels and sparkles, adorned with dark, sultry eye looks and her signature red lip. On the podcast, she reveals she picked the standard edition cover photo because it’s exactly how she ended her nights on The Eras Tour - in a bathtub.
She wrote this album all while on the European leg of The Eras Tour, traveling to Sweden to work with producers Max Martin and Shellback on her off days. There are 12 tracks on the album: “The Fate of Ophelia”, “Elizabeth Taylor”, “Opalite”, “Father Figure”, “Eldest Daughter”, “Ruin the Friendship”, “Actually Romantic”, “Wi$h Li$t”, “Wood”, “CANCELLED!”, “Honey”, and “The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter”. Although Taylor has been known to release deluxe tracks after an initial release (and in The Tortured Poet’s Department’s case, a second album), Taylor explicitly stated on the podcast that there will be no extra tracks released for the album.
In talking about the feelings that inspired the album, Taylor described her life at the time as “exuberant, electric, and vibrant”, and she felt like she was “catching lightning in a bottle” while working with Max Martin and Shellback. She details that there are no filler tracks - each one is there for a specific purpose and “you couldn’t take one out and it be the same album” - and it was crafted to be just right. Her focus in creating this album was on quality over quantity, which she admits has been her focus on other albums.
The Life of a Showgirl drops on all platforms on October 3rd.
Written By Lauren DiGiovanni
*copyright not intended. Fair use act, section 107.
