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Taylor Swift has released her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, and fans are busy unpacking everything from lyrics to her “Fortnight” music video.
The pop titan’s latest record, announced earlier this year when she won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album (Midnights), was released overnight on Friday 19 April and has already broken two Spotify records.
In a five-star review of the album, The Independent’s critic Helen Brown praised the “playful narratives” and “hooks like anchors”.
Fans have been surprised that many songs on the album seem to take aim at Swift’s ex Matty Healy, whom she briefly dated last year, instead of Joe Alwyn, her boyfriend of six years, whom she was reported to have parted ways with around April 2023.
Patti Smith has responded after she was namechecked on the title track, writing: “This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Thank you Taylor.”
Follow live updates for reactions, reviews and revelations from the album so far.
Taylor Swift teases ‘timetable’ for The Tortured Poets Department album
Roisin O’Connor20 April 2024 11:21
Godmother of punk Patti Smith thanks Taylor Swift for mention on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
Roisin O’Connor20 April 2024 11:01
Stevie Nicks shares surprise message for Taylor Swift on The Tortured Poets Department
Roisin O’Connor20 April 2024 10:41
Jimmy Kimmel trolls viewers by passing off Lara Trump song as Taylor Swift
Roisin O’Connor20 April 2024 10:21
Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department review: Irresistible, country-hued tales of relationships past and present
With its playful narratives and hooks like anchors, Swift’s 11th studio album is a terrific reminder of her storytelling powers, Helen Brown writes:
Roisin O’Connor20 April 2024 10:01
Taylor Swift appears to share first song about boyfriend Travis Kelce
The song has plenty of references to American football, including the lines: “So when I touch down/ Call the amateurs and cut ‘em from the team/ Ditch the clowns, get the crown/ Baby, I’m the one to beat.”
She also seems to refer to her British ex-boyfriends, singing: “These blokes warm the benches/ We’ve been on a winning streak.”
Roisin O’Connor20 April 2024 09:41
Taylor Swift enlists ‘Dead Poets’ Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles for Fortnight video starring Post Malone
Roisin O’Connor20 April 2024 09:30
Comment: Taylor Swift is doing what all women would love to do – trash their exes in public
Roisin O’Connor20 April 2024 09:21
How Taylor Swift takes aim at ex Matty Healy on The Tortured Poets Department
News of Swift and Alwyn’s breakup was first reported in April 2023. A month later, the first rumours of Swift dating Healy emerged, after they were first linked back in 2014.
Here are the songs where Swift seems to address her relationship with Healy:
Roisin O’Connor20 April 2024 09:01
Jon Bon Jovi thanks Taylor Swift for enticing Prince William onstage to sing ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’
Exclusive: Bon Jovi tells ‘The Independent’ that Swift ‘literally grabbed him by the arm and ran up on stage’
Roisin O’Connor20 April 2024 08:16
