Taylor Swift’s surprise double album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is a dagger wrapped in a lullaby

Taylor Swift’s surprise double album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is a dagger wrapped in a lullaby

Take your seats because a meeting of Taylor Swift’s “Department of Tormented Poets” has officially been called and, surprise, it’s a 31-song mega double album.

The Grammy winner first released his highly-anticipated 11th studio album on Friday, with the album appearing on Apple Music shortly before its scheduled midnight release time. At 2 a.m. EDT, Swift then released an additional 15-song album titled “TTPD: The Anthology.”

The 16-song debut album “Tortured Poets Department” works as a whole as a relaxed, gentle listen on the surface, but if you pay attention to the lyrics – as most meticulous Swifties do – you’ll discover a chaotic and complicated stream of consciousness. where Swift works through waves of sadness, longing, anger and self-reflection.

One example among many is on the album’s 12th track “loml” — which is internet speak for “love of my life” — where Swift sings, “I wish I didn’t remember how we almost had it all.” After singing the words “love of my life,” at the end of the song, he concludes, “You cost me my life.”

To mark the album’s drop, Swift wrote that the album was “an anthology of new work that reflects the events, opinions and sentiments of a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that is both sensational and sad” for her. Instagram page confirmed on Friday.

“The period of this author’s life is now over, this chapter is closed and closed. There is nothing to avenge, no score to settle when the wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a large number of them turned out to be doing their own thing,” he wrote. “This writer firmly believes that our tears become holy in the form of ink on the page. Once we have told our saddest stories, we can be free from them. And then all that’s left is tortured poetry.”

The songs Swift chose to feature the collaborators on are some of the album’s highlights. The album’s eighth track “Florida!!!” with Florence + the Machine is a beautiful match of two unique voices blended together, with Florence Welch’s signature plaintive singing style complementing Swift’s vocal range on melodic tracks.

“Fortnight,” the album’s lead single featuring Post Malone, is a dynamic first track, perhaps the album’s catchiest. “I love you, it’s ruining my life,” Swift sings reflectively, with Post Malone’s soft vocals echoing through her voice.

The music video for “Fortnight” will be released at 8 p.m. EDT Friday, according to Swift, who wrote on her Instagram page Thursday that she became a “huge fan” of Post Malone “because of his writing, his musical experimentation and the melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever.”

Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, two of Swift’s frequent writing and producing collaborators, are credited as co-writers on several songs throughout the album, with Swift credited as the sole writer on two – “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” and “Who Afraid of Old Me?”

The “Anthology” album released later on Friday includes the previously announced exclusive vinyl variant bonus tracks “The Black Dog,” “The Albatross,” “The Bolter” and “The Manuscript” along with many other new tracks.

“The Tortured Poets Department” comes in the midst of Swift’s record-breaking “Eras Tour” and Grammy win earlier this year, and is on track to beat sales and streaming expectations.

“This is probably the most anticipated album I’ve ever seen in my career,” Tom Poleman, chief programming officer & president for iHeartRadio, told CNN in a recent interview. “It’s not just a music event, it’s a pop culture event that I think everyone in America will talk about and celebrate together.”

According to Spotify, the album on Thursday became the most pre-saved album in the music streaming platform’s history.

At a Spotify library pop-up activation event at the Grove in Los Angeles on Thursday, the self-proclaimed Swiftie told CNN, “I have a feeling that she’s going to give us everything on this album and I’m really looking forward to it. I will say, I I feel like he’s been holding back for a few years, so I’m ready for this album for him to tell the whole truth.”

In February, Swift announced the album at the Grammys, accepting the award for best pop vocal album for 2022’s “Midnights.”

“It’s really a lifeline for me,” said

Swift on the “Tortured Poet” during a February concert in Melbourne, according to video footage posted to social media.

“Just the things that I go through, the things that I write about,” he says, “it reminds me why songwriting is something that really gets me through my life.”