Call it what you want, but one thing is for sure, Taylor Swift has her fans in a chokehold. With her surprise announcements, easter eggs, vault tracks and now her new album, the singer-songwriter has managed to stay relevant for the past two decades, so much so that we know all too well that even her harshest critics admit Swift’s music is both a mixture of nostalgia and relatability.
Imagine then the frenzy her fans were sent into following her surprise album announcement at the Grammys. Theories abounded about The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) from the genre to the people mentioned in the album. Right off the bat, Swifties had the date for the album underlined in red. The artwork of the album gave the impression that this was going to be a heartbreak album, much like Red. More importantly, this was going to be Swift’s heartbreak album after a really long time.
So TTPD was a blank space for me. Its sepia colour was considered the anti-thesis to Lover. As a Rep stan, I desperately hoped that the TTPD would have some trap-style drum sounds, however, Swift is also known to draw from her own experiences and the very public end of a six-year relationship had Swifties anticipating some ‘All Too Well’ tunes.