Taylor Swift Announces 12th Album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl’
Love her or hate her, you can’t deny that Taylor Swift is a creative tour de force. Less than 600 days after releasing her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, the thirty-five-year-old pop star made a special announcement in a teaser for boyfriend Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast. Sitting beside the Chiefs’ tight end, headphones on, Swift reached off-camera to grab a mint-green briefcase. “This is my brand-new album ‘The Life of a Showgirl,'” the popstar casually announced while holding a blurred album cover. Both Kelce brothers exploded with excitement. We’re quite sure their reaction was tame compared to that of the die-hard Swifties.
What do we know about the album so far?
Taylor Swift is the queen of Easter Eggs, known for dropping sly hints months ahead of her new projects. According to Variety, Spotify billboards began appearing in New York City and Nashville shortly after her big announcement. But as you might guess from the word “Spotify”, they’re no ordinary billboards. Instead, they contain a code that leads to a playlist called “And, baby, that’s show business for you.” Some eagle-eyed Swifties noted that all the songs in the playlist were produced by Max Martin and Shellback. A coincidence? Perhaps. But knowing Swift, it’s probably a hint that she collaborated with the Swedish hitmakers for this new album. Because they collaborated with her on her most pop-heavy album, some fans are speculating that this, too, will be a pop master class. We also know that the album’s colors are orange and mint green, a departure from the monochromatic theme of her last project.
Taylor Nation, a fan account associated with the Swift empire, also shared a carousel on Instagram featuring 12 pictures of Swift in orange costumes on her recently concluded Eras Tour. “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era,'” read the cryptic caption. Some Swifties believe each photo is a reference to a song in the purported twelve-track album. The last picture in the carousel features “Espresso” singer and Eras Tour opener Sabrina Carpenter, perhaps a nod to an album feature.
Like Carpenter, Swift has certainly been a “busy woman” since her Eras Tour ended in December of 2024.
Back in May, the “You Belong with Me” singer announced that she bought back the rights to her first six albums. For years, Swift had been locked in a highly publicized and contentious battle with Scooter Braun and Big Machine Records over the ownership of her masters. The singer-songwriter re-recorded four of her six albums and released them as “Taylor’s Versions.” “The passionate support you showed those albums and the success story you turned The Eras Tour into is why I was able to buy back my music,” Swift wrote in a letter on her website. “I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now.”
Swifties and football fans alike can catch the whole New Heights episode on Wednesday, August 13th. And while Swift has yet to announce a release date, fans can already pre-order The Life of a Showgirl. Her website also notes that copies will ship before October 13th.
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Originally published August 12, 2025
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