Taylor Swift's new album: A showgirl life in the fast lane

Social media is in a state of emergency. "I almost forgot that the whole meaning of life is to experience a new Taylor Swift album," "There's no feeling in the world that compares to the announcement of a new Taylor Swift album," and "We've been through a Taylor drought," one reads.

Hardly anyone can avoid the news: When superstar Taylor Swift announces new music, when Taylor Swift announces concerts or plays, when Taylor Swift simply does something, there is excitement among the “Swifties” - and this is also the case now that the 35-year-old singer has announced a new album entitled “The Life of a Showgirl”.

There's no question of a "Taylor drought," however: Hardly anyone is as hardworking and productive as the self-proclaimed showgirl, who, according to industry estimates, grossed around two billion dollars (around 1.9 billion euros) with her monumental "Eras Tour" over the past two years – including a stop in Germany, as we recall. It was the highest-grossing tour in history. It ended just over six months ago, in December 2024.

Last year, Swift's eleventh studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," was released, becoming the most-streamed album of 2024 on Spotify. And anyway: According to the streaming service, the American singer has almost 90.4 million monthly listeners, and her music was the most-streamed album of 2024. Swift set several records on Spotify and in the German charts shortly after its release.

Fifty-three percent of all adult Americans are her fans; the MAGA Republicans around Donald Trump fear her like the devil himself and spin deep-state theories: Singer and songwriter Taylor Swift has long been a megastar of Michael Jackson's caliber. There's a reason for that.

Record chases record chases record. And now the twelfth album, a new "era," to use Taylor Swift jargon. The artist has divided her work into "eras." Swift began the announcement of the new music with a mysterious countdown – at twelve minutes past midnight on August 12th, it became clear where this was leading.

At the same time as the album announcement, Swift released an excerpt from the podcast of her friend Travis Kelce, a successful football player who, since his relationship with the pop star, has also become known outside of the football industry, and his brother Jason, in which she is a guest. There, she pulls the new album out of a small suitcase—the cover, however, is still blurred, so you can't recognize anything.

The video was clicked over a million times in a quarter of an hour, and after about seven hours, it's already garnered an impressive 74 million views – and it's safe to assume that many of those millions will also listen and watch the full podcast episode (it's a video podcast) on Wednesday, when it's released in the US. Presumably, they're hoping their idol will then reveal the cover and, above all, reveal when the album will be released.

This, however, does not prevent Swifties from reading previously hidden signs – every detail is analyzed and interpreted, just as fans absorb all information about Swift's private life like a life-sustaining elixir (Swift's first visit to the football stadium, the first pictures with new boyfriend Travis Kelce, the recently published first private photos of the couple; and so on).

And Swift is fueling the clue-reading: A hint about the album emerged from a post by the pop star's social media team on Instagram and TikTok on the "Taylornation" account. It shows a series of photos of Swift on stage in red and orange glitter outfits. In one photo, she can be seen with musician Sabrina Carpenter ("Espresso"), who temporarily appeared as a support act on the Eras tour. A hint of a feature with the currently in-demand singer? Fans, at least, are interpreting this as a realistic possibility.

The colors of the album cover also seem to have been decided—green and orange. This is certainly evident from the new profile picture on Swift's Instagram channel and the "Taylornation" account, a blurry green photo with an orange castle. This can also be found on Taylor Swift's website, where fans can already pre-order vinyl, cassette, and CD of her twelfth studio album.

And then there's a new playlist on Spotify titled "And baby, that's show business for you," featuring exclusively Swift songs produced by Max Martin and Shellback. She previously collaborated with the duo on the albums "Red," "1989," and most recently, "Reputation" in 2017. Did they also produce the new album? It's possible.

The title "The Life of a Showgirl" can mean a lot of things—after all, Taylor Swift has been a showgirl for half her life. At just 14, the Pennsylvania-born American moved to Nashville to become a country music artist. Her second album, "Fearless" (2008), featuring the songs "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me," made her famous. Today, Swift is considered the biggest pop star in the world.

"The Life of a Showgirl" could be a follow-up to her "Eras" tour, which Swift herself described as the "most extraordinary chapter" of her life so far. Her lyrics often deal with friendship, growing up, and love or heartbreak. It's quite possible that she's now processing her life musically during this extraordinary (and also exceptionally long) tour.

But there are more to this showgirl life than just the good stuff: Swift spent years waging a legal battle with her former manager and label over the rights to her first six albums. Then, in May of this year, her "biggest dream came true": She bought the rights to these albums.

"All the music I've ever made" now belongs to her, the singer wrote on her website. Album number 12 will soon be released. "Already my favorite album and I haven't even heard it yet," one fan wrote – success seems assured for Taylor Swift.