Taylor Swift, arguably the biggest and most influential artist in the world right now, released her newest album The Tortured Poets Department on April 19th. The album was announced on February 4th, 2024 during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards (music industry awards) where Taylor Swift won two Grammys, Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year, for her previous album Midnights. When she won her first award of the night, her 13th Grammy, Swift shared the announcement as she was receiving the award, revealing she had spent the past two years creating the album. She hadn’t released a new album since Midnights in 2022, so the announcement excited fans everywhere, even here at Graded. Rebecca Tomasoni, News Editor at The Talon and a Junior, expressed her excitement saying “When I first heard her announcement I was really excited for her new music and to see what stories and emotions she had in store for us with this album.”
The album was released at 12:00 am EST on April 19th with 16 tracks. However, two hours later, Swift took to Instagram and other social media platforms to surprise everyone by announcing a double album called The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology containing 15 new tracks, stating “I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you.” With the new tracks, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology became Swift’s longest album with 31 songs, having a runtime of 2 hours and 2 minutes.
The songs, which portray Swift’s life over the past two years, encompass many themes ranging from love, heartbreak, public image, fame, and the infamous 2016 phone call incident with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian that began the #taylorswiftisoverparty movement. Swift once again collaborates with longtime friend and producer Jack Antonoff (producer of the 1989, Folklore, Evermore, Lover, and Midnights albums) and Aaron Dessner (part of the Evermore, Folklore, and Midnights records) to create more exciting, haunting, and beautiful sounding music. The album, coming after Taylor Swift and actor Joe Alwyn ended their longtime 6-year relationship, made every fan speculate that this was the “breakup album”. So it came as a shock when most of the album seemed to be referencing someone that she dated for just under two months after her breakup, The 1975 musician Matty Healy. Nonetheless, Swift wrote some heartbreaking songs about Alwyn including “How Did It End?” and “So Long London.” However, not all the songs are about heartbreak as she reveals vulnerability and insecurities in songs like “The Prophecy”, “Clara Bow”, and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” Even her falling in love with Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs tight end) is illustrated in “So High School.”
With a variety of sounds, from synth-pop to piano ballads, phenomenal features with Post Malone and Florence + The Machine, and the exceptional songwriting Taylor Swift is known for, it’s no surprise that she has already broken many impressive records. Arguably, some of her best lyrics paired with unique sounds including a Western feel like Fresh Out the Slammer, have shocked the world. Before being released, it broke Spotify’s record for most pre-saves in history, and less than 12 hours after its release, it became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day and the first album to have more than 300 million streams in a single day. In its first six days, The Tortured Poets Department became the most streamed album in a single week with 799 million streams across all platforms. Though with Midnights Swift became the first artist in history to occupy all top 10 spots of the Billboard Hot 100, The Tortured Poets Department broke her own record by becoming the first artist to claim every spot in the top 14. After breaking this remarkable record, Swifties came together to congratulate Taylor Swift by buying an ad space on a billboard at Times Square. Designed by Kuba Designs, the ad listed the top 14 songs, a congratulatory message, and a sign-off that says “from the desk of the Swifties. P.S. Try and come for her job”, which references a lyric from her song “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.”
As The Tortured Poets Department continues to break records and captivate audiences, it shows her unparalleled talent and impact on the music industry. With its diverse range of sounds and themes, the album takes listeners on an emotional journey, exploring love, heartbreak, vulnerability, and resilience with beauty and honesty. Sofia Zapata, a Junior, and fan, described the lyrics as “rich and particularly, in this album, heartbreaking” and that even though “we learn a lot, we are also left with a lot of questions, and that makes it special”. Swift, Antonoff, and Dessner’s ability to craft compelling narratives and melodies that resonate with fans of all ages everywhere highlights her influence, not just in the industry, but in people’s lives.
Sources:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1Mo4aZ8pdj6L1jx8zSwJnt
https://open.spotify.com/album/5H7ixXZfsNMGbIE5OBSpcb
https://www.marketing-interactive.com/taylor-swift-swifites-ttpd-billboard-ad-hot-100
