By Harper Cuttino

On April 19, millions of Swifties across the world waited anxiously for the release of Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department. Swiftie Anne Randall Berkeyheiser (’25) remarked on her excitement about the album: “I was so excited I stayed up till midnight. And then the anthology dropped, and I lost my mind.”

The Tortured Poet’s Department album cover. Image credit: Taylor Swift on Instagram and Republic Records.

Before the release of the album, many fans had been speculating that Swift would drop a different album. Swift is known to use a plethora of symbolism, not only in her songs but also in other ways, through her actions or performances. Swifties guessed that Swift would drop the re-recorded version of her album Reputation, rather than a new album, due to supposed referencing throughout her recent tour and Swift’s Instagram. Nonetheless, fans were surprised and excited at the news that a whole new album would be released.

Swift announced The Tortured Poet’s Department after she accepted the award for Best Pop Album for her album Midnights at the 66th Grammy Awards on February 4. This win marked Swift’s 14th Grammy. After she accepted the award, she revealed the new album on stage for the first time. At the time, Swift had said that she had been working on this album for over two years and that it would be a synth-pop album.

Swift receives her Grammy and announces the album. Photo credit: taylornation on instagram.

The album’s themes range from addressing past heartbreaks, embracing new love, to also reflecting on her own mental health and condition. Swift’s songs feature poetic lyrics that can form a catchy hook but also contain deeper meanings that leave the listener yearning for more. 

The original tracklist consisted of 16 songs and over an hour of listening time. However, on the release date, fans found out that Swift had technically released two whole albums. The first part of the album, with 16 songs, was released at midnight on April 19. The second release occurred around 2 a.m. that same night, and fans discovered that the second part had the same 16 in the same order, but there were now 31 songs on this second album. The second album is titled The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.  

The album starts off with the song “Fortnight” (feat. Post Malone). This song sets up the style of the entire album: soft synth, a background track, and a combination of both Swift and Malone’s voices. A music video was also released for “Fortnight.” The video features both Swift and Malone and follows a silent movie motif throughout various shots of the video. The video is also shot in black and white, hinting that this album is portraying a similar style to older Hollywood movies. 

One thing Swift does well with her albums and songwriting is telling a story and giving them proper theming. With this album, it is clear that it offers a different story than what could have been present in previous albums. One of the references includes an ode to silent movie actress Clara Bow in the song named after her. When Swift added the album to the Eras Tour setlist, she performed an outfit change on stage as if she were acting in a silent movie. Swift gets picked up by her backup dancers and is propped up in a theatrical display, as trumpets in the background perform the melody of her song “I Can Do it With a Broken Heart.” The attention to detail in the lyrics, set design, and other attributes make the album enjoyable to analyze. 

Album cover of The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. Image credit: Taylor Swift on instagram and Republic Records.

My top songs of the original album are “So Long, London,” “I Can Do it With a Broken Heart,” and “loml.” I find the intro to “So Long, London” to sound almost heavenly, like wedding bells. The song then transitions to a faster synth beat in the background, with echoey vocals that flow smoothly. In contrast, “I Can Do it With a Broken Heart” focuses on a much faster beat, despite how depressing the lyrics are. The lyrics reflect how she feels while performing on her tour and how she was trying to put on a show while dealing with heartbreak. I think this song presents vulnerability from Swift, and I find it to be an interesting contrast. There are also details that I appreciate about this song, like the audio track that plays through her earpiece while she performs that creates a countdown in the song. For “loml,” this one focuses more on piano aspects that sound similar to the albums Folklore or Evermore. This song captures the feeling of mourning the death of a relationship. When I heard that this album was coming out, I initially thought it would have a similar style to Folklore and Evermore, and this song reflects those two the most. Folklore is one of my personal favorite albums, so when I first listened to this song, it reminded me of listening to Folklore for the first time.

As for the anthology, one of my favorites is “imgonnagetyouback.” The vocals are still soft, but the background beats get progressively stronger. This song also might have one of my favorite Swift bridges yet. It sounds so poetic but fun at the same time. 

After listening to this album, it just might be my favorite one that Swift has produced. In the words of Berkeyheiser, “[Swift] really delves deep into her emotions, and it’s poetry… and the metaphors are insane.” I am looking forward to future works of Swift as she experiments with this new era of hers, and I will be listening to this album on repeat for thousands of hours and days. I have yet to see her on tour, unfortunately, so for now I will listen to this album over and over again to live vicariously through the music. 

Swift performing the The Tortured Poet’s Department Era on the Eras Tour. Photo credit: taylornation on instagram.