Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department – live updates: What critics and fans are saying

Taylor Swift has released her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, revealing just three hours after it dropped that it is a surprise double album.

The pop titan’s latest record, announced earlier this year when she won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album (Midnights), was released overnight on Friday 19 April and reportedly caused a spike in Spotify outages.

Physical copies of the LP feature a prologue/poem written by legendary Fleetwood Mac star and solo singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks, a longtime champion of Swift, and an epilogue written by Swift herself.

In a five-star review of the album, The Independent’s critic Helen Brown praised the “playful narratives” and “hooks like anchors”.

“In keeping with the literary (if ungrammatical) album title, Swift is on her most piercingly polysyllabic form here,” she wrote.

Fans have been surprised that many songs on the album seem to take aim at Swift’s ex Matty Healy, whom she briefly dated last year, instead of her boyfriend of six years Joe Alwyn, whom she was reported to have parted ways with around April 2023.

Follow live updates for reactions, reviews and revelations from the album so far.

Taylor Swift releases ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ - key points

• Read The Independent’s review of Taylor Swift’s 11th album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department'

• How Taylor Swift takes aim at Matty Healy on The Tortured Poets Department

• Stevie Nicks contributes moving poem for Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department

• Swift takes a shot at sparring partner Kim Kardashian

• When did Matty Healy and Taylor Swift date?

• What the critics are saying so far...

Jon Bon Jovi thanks Taylor Swift for enticing Prince William onstage to sing ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’

01:20 , Kevin Perry

The Independent spoke to Jon Bon Jovi on the eve of the release of The Tortured Poets Department, and the rock legend had fond memories of the time he, Swift and Prince William ended up belting out “Livin’ On A Prayer” together.

“She literally grabbed him by the arm and ran up on stage,” he recalled.

Read more here.

Look out for The Independent’s career-spanning interview with Bon Jovi on Sunday (21 April), in which the 62-year-old talks about the drug experience that scared him straight, his most extravagant purchases, and his son’s forthcoming marriage to Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown.

WATCH: Jimmy Kimmel trolls viewers by passing off Lara Trump song as Taylor Swift

01:00 , Inga Parkel

Michael J Fox says Taylor Swift ‘changes the way the world works’

Saturday 20 April 2024 00:00 , Inga Parkel

Days before Taylor Swift broke the internet with her new album, Michael J Fox has praised her, saying that she “changes the world works”.

Speaking to People for the magazine’s 50th-anniversary issue, the Back to the Future star, 62, admitted that he “didn't have an opinion about Taylor Swift when I first heard of Taylor Swift”.

“Now I have a wife and four kids who worship her,” he said. “I think she's going to be a really important person. I think she moves economies, she changes the way the world works, and that’s amazing.”

Who are The Blue Nile, the Scottish band Taylor Swift references on Guilty as Sin?

Friday 19 April 2024 23:45 , Kevin Perry

Taylor Swift fans are scrambling to decipher the US artist’s many lyrical references on new album The Tortured Poets Society.

The Grammy-winning artist released her 11th studio album at midnight (5am GMT) on Friday 19 April, then announced an extended “anthology” version shortly after.

Swifties were surprised to learn that the majority of songs do not, in fact, appear to be about her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, with exceptions such as “So Long, London” and “loml”.

Instead, much of her songwriting seems inspired by her brief fling with The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy, whom she dated around April and May last year.

On “Guilty as Sin?” she sings about “fatal fantasies” for someone from her past who sends her the 1989 song “The Downtown Lights”, by Scottish band The Blue Nile (she might have felt a particular affinity for the song as it was released the year she was born).

Read more:

Who are The Blue Nile, the Scottish band Taylor Swift references on Guilty as Sin?

Song from new album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ namedrops her ex Matty Healy’s favourite band

Taylor Swift breaks her own record (again)

Friday 19 April 2024 23:30 , Kevin Perry

Spotify have just announced that The Tortured Poets Department is already their most-streamed album in a single day, with Taylor Swift also becoming the most-streamed artist in a single day in the history of the platform.

It is the first album to ever exceed 200 million streams in a single day. The previous record was also held by Swift, who now has the top three most streamed albums in a single day, with The Tortured Poets Department followed by Midnights and 1989 (Taylor’s Version).

Why fans think Taylor Swift will perform at Coachella weekend two

Friday 19 April 2024 23:00 , Inga Parkel

Taylor Swift fans are speculating that she may perform at Coachella's weekend two after releasing her new album The Tortured Poets Department.

The singer, 34, is rumoured to be performing with her friend and fellow Jack Antonoff collaborator Lana Del Rey this weekend.

It comes after she was spotted enjoying the festival’s first weekend with boyfriend Travis Kelce. Swift was last spotted attending the festival in 2016.

Read more:

Why fans think Taylor Swift will perform at Coachella weekend two

Swift was spotted enjoying the festival’s first weekend with boyfriend Travis Kelce

Travis Kelce’s ex asks trolls to ‘leave her alone’ as Taylor Swift releases new album

Friday 19 April 2024 22:30 , Inga Parkel

Hours before Taylor Swift released her new album, Travis Kelce’s ex, influencer Kayla Nicole, addressed some of the criticism she’s seen about her on social media.

“I’m unproblematic. Mind my business,” she tweeted on Thursday (18 April). “Never respond to the constant vitriol. Solid as they come & don’t expect a pat on the back for it either.”

However, she then hit back at the criticism, before asking her followers to put an end to it. “Just know everyone has a breaking point & would love for ‘yall’ (because you know exactly who you are) to leave me alone,” she concluded.

The American football star dated Nicole off-and-on from 2017 to 2022, before Kelce is believed to have started dating Swift in September 2023.

Read more:

Travis Kelce’s ex Kayla Nicole asks trolls to ‘leave her alone’ as Taylor Swift releases new album

Travis Kelce and Kayla Nicole dated off-and-on from 2017 to 2022

Taylor Swift easter eggs: All the clues so far from The Tortured Poets Department

Friday 19 April 2024 22:00 , Inga Parkel

Ahead of the record’s release, Swift partnered with streaming service Spotify to create an open-air library at The Grove in Los Angeles.

The surprise pop-up led to fans scrambling to decipher clues left behind. She also shared a video teaser that follows the camera as it exits the Midnights room and enters the Tortured Poets Department, a stark office with bright white lights.

Here are the clues fans have deciphered (or think they’ve worked out) so far, from an artist with a notorious love of easter eggs.

Read more:

Taylor Swift easter eggs: All the clues so far from The Tortured Poets Department

Pop star teased fans with clues ahead of her new album

All of the famous names dropped in Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets album

Friday 19 April 2024 21:30 , Inga Parkel

Taylor Swift’s new record, The Tortured Poets Department, name-drops a handful of famous names, some expected and some (very much) not.

Swift does much of her name-checking in the album’s title track.

“I laughed in your face and said, ‘You're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith,’” she sings, referring to the famous poets. “This ain't the Chelsea Hotel, we'rе modern idiots.”

She then surprised fans when she celebrated fellow artist Charlie Puth, singing: “We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.”

Elsewhere in the song, she appears to mention her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff and Boygenius’s Lucy Dacus.

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re gonna screw this up with me / But you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave / And I had said that to Jack about you, so I felt seen,” she sings.

Finally, in her “Clara Bow” song, titled after the late Twenties actor, she also names singer Stevie Nicks. “You look like Stevie Nicks in '75 / The hair and lips / The crowd goes wild at her fingertips / Half moonshinе, a full eclipse.”

Matt Healy ‘still thinks very highly’ of Taylor Swift even after new album release, source claims

Friday 19 April 2024 21:00 , Inga Parkel

Swift’s ex, The 1975 frontman Matt Healy, has reacted to her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.

Following the release of her album, fans were left surprised that Swift seemed to spend more time dissecting her brief fling with Healy rather than her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn.

“Matty still thinks very highly of Taylor but we were all nervous about what she might have said on the album,” an insider told US Weekly. They also claimed that Healy “couldn’t be happier” with how Swift’s record turned out.

“Matty’s family knew about the relationship,” the insider said. “And they were worried that Taylor was going to rip him apart. Matty has struggled with life in the public eye, and he’s been doing really well, but the last thing that he needs is for every Swiftie in the world to think he’s a villain.”

Read more:

How Taylor Swift takes aim at Matty Healy on The Tortured Poets Department

Fans expecting a post-mortem of the musician’s six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn have been left surprised, as Swift seems to spend more time dissecting her brief fling with The 1975 frontman

The New York Times thinks Taylor Swift’s album could’ve done with an editor

Friday 19 April 2024 20:30 , Inga Parkel

While many early reviews of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department have been quite laudatory, The New York Times’s music critic Lindsay Zoladz declared that the album could “use an editor”.

“Over 16 songs (and a second LP), the pop superstar litigates her recent romances,” Zoladz writes. “But the themes, and familiar sonic backdrops, generate diminishing returns.”

Calling it a “curiously insular album”, she adds that it is “often cradled in the familiar, amniotic throb of Jack Antonoff’s production”.

“As the album goes on, Swift’s lyricism starts to feel unrestrained, imprecise and unnecessarily verbose.”

Taylor Swift fans sent into frenzy as new album The Tortured Poets Department ‘leaked’

Friday 19 April 2024 20:00 , Inga Parkel

Days before the release of Swift’s 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, it appeared to have been leaked online sparking a frenzy of debate among fans.

Read more:

Taylor Swift fans sent into frenzy as new album The Tortured Poets Department ‘leaked’

Swifties have branded the leak a ‘slap in the face’ to the artist’s hard work

Taylor Swift ‘thanks’ Kim Kardashian on Tortured Poets song as she reflects on feud

Friday 19 April 2024 19:30 , Inga Parkel

Taylor Swift fans are convinced that the musician alludes to her years-long feud with Kim Kardashian on new album The Tortured Poets Department, as she seemingly makes several references to the reality star in her song “thanK you aIMee”.

Read more:

Taylor Swift ‘thanks’ Kim Kardashian on Tortured Poets song as she reflects on feud

Several signs point towards Kardashian being the topic of song ‘thanK you aIMee’

Taylor Swift’s 10 greatest breakup songs, ranked

Friday 19 April 2024 19:00 , Inga Parkel

Taylor Swift knows how to write about breakups. Her candid, confessional songwriting style has traversed love in all its forms, but among her most adored songs are the ones that delve into the confusion, grief and loss that swirl around a relationship’s end. Others, while still addressing a romantic split, are about acceptance, and the ability to reflect on the past while still pushing forwards.

Read more:

Taylor Swift’s 10 greatest breakup songs, ranked

The night before the release of Swift’s highly anticipated 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, Roisin O’Connor took a look at the singer’s extensive catalog and ranked the most devastating of the bunch.

Travis Kelce reacts to Taylor Swift singing about ex-partners on new album

Friday 19 April 2024 18:30 , Inga Parkel

Travis Kelce has said he has “has zero concern” about Taylor Swift singing about former boyfriends on her new album, The Tortured Poets Department.

According to a source, Kelce has said he is not concerned about his partner addressing her past relationships on her records.

Swift has released her 11th studio album today (19 April) and seems to have surprised fans by taking aim at Matty Healy, whom she briefly dated last year, instead of her boyfriend of six years Joe Alwyn, whom she was reported to have parted ways with around April 2023.

Read more:

Travis Kelce ‘has zero concerns’ about Taylor Swift singing about former boyfriends on new Tortured Poets album

Swift’s new album includes several references to some of her former paramours, including Matty Healy and Joe Alwyn.

Swifties share hilarious reactions to extensive 31-track album

Friday 19 April 2024 18:00 , Inga Parkel

Last night/early this morning (at 2am), Taylor Swift surprised fans with the news that The Tortured Poets Department was actually a secret double album.

So, in addition to the original 16-track album, she also released The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, which includes 15 extra songs.

“I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD,” Swift wrote on Instagram.

With 31 songs in total, The Anthology is a whopping two hours and two minutes long.

Here are the best reactions from fans who listened to the entire album at the crack of dawn.

Taylor Swift says new album isn’t about settling scores

Friday 19 April 2024 17:30 , Inga Parkel

When announcing the release of her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, Swift described it as “an anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure”.

“This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed,” she wrote on Instagram.

“And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it,” Swift added.

“And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.”

Aaron Dessner celebrates Taylor Swift’s ‘brilliant’ album

Friday 19 April 2024 17:15 , Inga Parkel

The National frontman Aaron Dessner has celebrated Swift’s latest album, writing on Instagram: “I'm so excited and honoured to share that I have contributed to my dear friend and collaborator @taylorswift's brilliant 11th album.

“We started working on these songs over two years ago and it feels like they have kept us company and evolved in beautiful and unexpected ways through so much life lived during this process. It's hard to believe Taylor and I have now recorded over 60 songs together (17 across this anthology!!) in the 4 years since we began working together on Folklore in 2020. I am forever grateful to Taylor for sharing her insane talents with and trusting me with her music,” Dessner added.

“I believe these songs are some of the most lyrically acute, intricate, vulnerable and cathartic Taylor has ever written and I am continually astonished by her skills as a songwriter and performer.”

Dessner, 47, and Swift, 34, first crossed paths on Saturday Night Live in 2014, when The National performed as the musical guest. Swift was there in support of her friend, comedian and Girls star Lena Dunham.

Swifties flood Charlie Puth’s social media after name-drop on new album

Friday 19 April 2024 17:00 , Inga Parkel

Among the many big names dropped on Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department is fellow singer Charlie Puth.

In the title track of the album, Swift sings: “We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.”

Following Swift’s complimentary declaration, several of her followers (Swifties) flooded the “See You Again” singer’s Instagram.

“Who is here after TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT,” one person commented below his latest post, celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday.

“Wake up you were mentioned in the tortured poets department!” a second commented with another writing: “How does it feel to get a shoutout from Taylor?”

Puth has previously expressed his adulation for Swift. “This is why she’s such a genius, man,” he said after a 2021 performance of her old hit “Teardrops on My Guitar”.

“These are the chord changes. It’s wonderful. I think it’s wonderful.”

Midnights review - what did our critic say about Taylor Swift’s last album?

Friday 19 April 2024 16:31 , Roisin O'Connor

Midnights is Taylor Swift’s darkest and most cryptic album yet - review

Taylor Swift teases ‘timetable’ for The Tortured Poets Department album

Friday 19 April 2024 16:16 , Roisin O'Connor

How Taylor Swift takes aim at Matty Healy on The Tortured Poets Department

Friday 19 April 2024 16:01 , Roisin O'Connor

Fans expecting a post-mortem of the musician’s six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn have been left surprised, as Swift seems to spend more time dissecting her brief fling with The 1975 frontman.

How Taylor Swift takes aim at Matty Healy on The Tortured Poets Department

Friday 19 April 2024 15:46 , Roisin O'Connor

Message from T Swift:

The Tortured Poets Department. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time - one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure. This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT is out now.

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt perform ‘Barbenheimer’ duet to Taylor Swift song in ‘SNL’ monologue

Friday 19 April 2024 15:16 , Roisin O'Connor

Who are The Blue Nile, the Scottish band Taylor Swift references on Guilty as Sin?

Friday 19 April 2024 15:01 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift fans are scrambling to decipher the US artist’s many lyrical references on new album The Tortured Poets Society.

The Grammy-winning artist released her 11th studio album at midnight (5am GMT) on Friday 19 April, then announced an extended “anthology” version shortly after.

Swifties were surprised to learn that the majority of songs do not, in fact, appear to be about her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, with exceptions such as “So Long, London” and “loml”.

Instead, much of her songwriting seems inspired by her brief fling with The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy, whom she dated around April and May last year.

On “Guilty as Sin?” she sings about “fatal fantasies” for someone from her past who sends her the 1989 song “The Downtown Lights”, by Scottish band The Blue Nile (she might have felt a particular affinity for the song as it was released the year she was born).

Full story:

Who are The Blue Nile, the Scottish band Taylor Swift references on Guilty as Sin?

Taylor Swift ‘thanks’ Kim Kardashian on Tortured Poets song as she reflects on feud

Friday 19 April 2024 14:45 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift ‘thanks’ Kim Kardashian on Tortured Poets song as she reflects on feud

Stevie Nicks shares surprise message for Taylor Swift on The Tortured Poets Department

Friday 19 April 2024 14:31 , Roisin O'Connor

Stevie Nicks has written a poem to accompany Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Society.

The legendary singer-songwriter’s words are included as a prologue for the pop star’s 11th studio album, which is already receiving early rave reviews from critics.

The poem reads, in part: “He was in love with her / Or at least she thought so / She was broken hearted / Maybe he was too / Neither of them knew,” Nicks writes.

“She was way too hot to handle / He was way too high to try...”

Full story:

Stevie Nicks shares message for Taylor Swift on The Tortured Poets Department

Travis Kelce says relationship with Taylor Swift is 'a crazy ride'

Friday 19 April 2024 14:15 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department review: Irresistible, country-hued tales of relationships past and present

Friday 19 April 2024 14:01 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift’s country-hued tales of bad boys & good girls are irresistible – review

Who are The Blue Nile, the band Swift references on ‘Guilty as Sin?'

Friday 19 April 2024 13:33 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift fans are scrambling to decipher the US artist’s many lyrical references on new album The Tortured Poets Society.

The Grammy-winning artist released her 11th studio album at midnight (5am GMT) on Friday 19 April, then announced an extended “anthology” version shortly after.

Swifties were surprised to learn that the majority of songs do not, in fact, appear to be about her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, with exceptions such as “So Long, London” and “loml”.

Instead, much of her songwriting seems inspired by her brief fling with The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy, whom she dated around April and May last year.

On “Guilty as Sin?” she sings about “fatal fantasies” for someone from her past who sends her the 1989 song “The Downtown Lights”, by Scottish band The Blue Nile.

“Drowning in The Blue Nile/ He sent me ‘Downtown Lights’,” she sings. “I hadn’t heard it in a while/ My boredom’s bone deep/ This cage was once just fine/ Am I allowed to cry?”

Healy has mentioned his love for the Glasgow-formed trio on several occasions, calling them his “favourite band off all time”.

He also said that The 1975’s song “Love It If We Made It” was inspired by “The Downtown Lights”, calling it “Blue Nile on steroids”.

“Musically, they’ve inspired me so much,” he told Vulture in a 2016 interview. “There’s so much drama. It’s perfect nighttime music. It’s beautiful, romantic music with British sensibilities. The sounds on it are amazing.”

Taylor Swift Eras tour: When is the pop star performing in the UK?

Friday 19 April 2024 13:21 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift Eras tour: When is the pop star performing in the UK?

Flashback: Unedited video shows Taylor Swift and Kanye West conversation about Famous

Friday 19 April 2024 13:01 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift ‘thanks’ Kim Kardashian on Tortured Poets song as she reflects on feud

Friday 19 April 2024 12:41 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift fans are convinced that the musician alludes to her years-long feud with Kim Kardashian on new album The Tortured Poets Department, as she seemingly makes several references to the reality star in her song “thanK you aIMee”.

Taylor Swift ‘thanks’ Kim Kardashian on Tortured Poets song as she reflects on feud

How to shop Swift’s merch

Friday 19 April 2024 12:31 , Roisin O'Connor

A message from our IndyBest team:

Swifties, assemble. Whether you’re hosting a listening party for the new album or have tickets to the upcoming UK leg of her tour, The Tortured Poets Department’s exclusive new merchandise includes everything from jumpers (£70, Storeuktaylorswift.com) to jewellery (£40, Storeuk.taylorswift.com). Naturally, it’s selling out fast, but you can shop everything still available below.https://www.independent.co.uk/indybest/taylor-swift-the-tortured-poets-department-merch-b2531346.html

Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department review: Irresistible, country-hued tales of relationships past and present

Friday 19 April 2024 12:16 , Roisin O'Connor

Read an excerpt from Helen Brown’s five-star review of The Tortured Poets Department:

Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, comes complete with a handwritten poem titled “In Summation”. In it, an unnamed artist defends a recent romance that she/he insists was “not a love affair” but a “mutual manic phase… self harm… house then cardiac arrest.” And yet there is no defeat here. Swift continues: “A smirk creeps onto the poet’s face/ Because it’s the worst men that I write best.”

The album – with a sound that takes the moody electronica of 2022’s Midnights up a gear – goes on to chart the course of a relationship with a lover who has brought “chaos” and “revelry” to the life of a good woman with a reputation to maintain. At times, the singer is swept off her feet by their dangerous chemistry, defending her self-destructive paramour against critics. “He only runs because he loves me,” she swaggers. Other times, she’s left “crying at the gym”, broken by the loss of her “cosmic love” and “twin”. Finally, he’s dismissed as a “conman” selling “get-love-quick schemes. Mr Steal Your Girl Then Make her Cry”.

Full review:

Taylor Swift’s country-hued tales of bad boys & good girls are irresistible – review

How Taylor Swift takes aim at Matty Healy on The Tortured Poets Department

Friday 19 April 2024 11:58 , Roisin O'Connor

How Taylor Swift takes aim at Matty Healy on The Tortured Poets Department

Taylor Swift Eras tour: When is the pop star performing in the UK?

Friday 19 April 2024 11:46 , Roisin O'Connor

Fans attending Swift’s UK shows must be feeling pretty smug right now, as the pop star is likely to perform at least one or two songs from The Tortured Poets Department live when she kicks of the UK and Europe leg of her Eras tour in June.

Here’s a reminder of all the key dates:

Taylor Swift Eras tour: When is the pop star performing in the UK?

Taylor Swift dives into stage during Eras concert

Friday 19 April 2024 11:31 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift appears to release first song about boyfriend Travis Kelce

Friday 19 April 2024 11:15 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift fans were left reeling after it became apparent that her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, seems to spend more time reflecting on her short-lived romance with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy than it does her former boyfriend of six years, actor Joe Alwyn.

The pop titan released her 11th studio album at midnight ET on Friday 19 April. Only a few hours later, she announced that a surprise “2am version” extended the record to a further 15 songs.

One of the tracks on the first part of the album is “The Alchemy”, which appears to be the first song Swift has released about her boyfriend Travis Kelce, tight-end for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The song has plenty of references to American football, including the lines: “So when I touch down/ Call the amateurs and cut ‘em from the team/ Ditch the clowns, get the crown/ Baby, I’m the one to beat.”

She also seems to refer to her British ex-boyfriends, singing: “These blokes warm the benches/ We’ve been on a winning streak.”

Taylor Swift appears to release first song about boyfriend Travis Kelce

Flashback: The 1975's Matty Healy alludes to rumoured relationship with Taylor Swift

Friday 19 April 2024 11:01 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department review: Irresistible, country-hued tales of relationships past and present

Friday 19 April 2024 10:41 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift’s country-hued tales of bad boys & good girls are irresistible – review

‘thanK you aIMee'

Friday 19 April 2024 10:40 , Roisin O'Connor

Now it’s Kim’s turn! That’s right, it looks a lot like Swift has written a song especially for the star of the Kardashian clan, with the song title “thanK you aIMee” in lower case apart from the letters “K, I, M”.

There’s plenty of alluding to Swift and Kardashian’s long-running feud, which was sparked after the reality TV star leaked a phone conversation that appeared to show Swift approving a lyric by Kardashian’s then-husband, rapper Kanye West, for his single “Famous”.

“All that time you were throwin' punches, I was buildin' somethin',” she sings. “And I can't forgive the way you made me feel/ Screamed “Fuck you, Aimee” to the night sky, as the blood was gushin'/ But I can't forget the way you made me heal.”

Swift also mentions her mum, Andrea Swift: “Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman/ But she used to say she wished that you were dead.”

Later, she seemingly refers to a viral TikTok of Kardashian and West’s daughter, North, dancing to the pop star’s hit song “Shake It Off” on TikTok, a song Swift now suggests was written about Kardashian.

“And maybe you've reframed it,” she sings. “And in your mind, you never beat my spirit black and blue/ I don't think you've changed much/ And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues/ And one day, your kid comes home singin'/ A song that only us two is gonna know is about you.”

Kardashian’s famous branding of Swift as a “snake” led to the pop star taking a lengthy hiatus due to the backlash she received. She was later vindicated after the full conversation proved she did not approve West rapping “I made that bitch famous” on the track, which West and Kardashian had claimed she had.

“My career was taken away from me,” Swift told Time in an interview for her Person of the Year 2023 award.

“You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar. That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before.

“I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone any more. I went down really, really hard.”

What songs does Swift reference Matty Healy on?

Friday 19 April 2024 10:21 , Roisin O'Connor

Fans are now scrambling to dissect the meaning of songs from The Tortured Poets Department, with the title track, along with songs such as “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, “loml”, “But Daddy I Love Him”, “Fresh Out the Slammer” and “My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys” all interpreted to be about Healy. She also appears to reference him on “The Black Dog”, from the extended version of the album.

Here’s a breakdown of the references we’ve spotted so far:

How Taylor Swift takes aim at Matty Healy on The Tortured Poets Department

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt perform ‘Barbenheimer’ duet to Taylor Swift song in ‘SNL’ monologue

Friday 19 April 2024 10:01 , Roisin O'Connor

Friday 19 April 2024 09:40 , Roisin O'Connor

On “Guilty as Sin?” Swift sings about “fatal fantasies” for someone in her past who sends her the 1989 song “The Downtown Lights” by Scottish band The Blue Nile.

Healy has mentioned before that The Blue Nile is his “favourite band of all time” and that The 1975’s song “Love It If We Made It” was inspired by “The Downtown Lights.”

Fans wrote an open letter in April urging Swift to “reflect on the impact of your own and your associates’ behavior”.

On “But Daddy I Love Him,” Swift seems to address this criticism of her romance with Healy.

She sings: “I’d rather burn my whole life down/ Than listen to one more second of all this bitchin’ and moanin’/ I’ll tell you something ‘bout my good name/ It’s mine along with all the disgrace/ I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing.”

‘The Black Dog'

Friday 19 April 2024 09:22 , Roisin O'Connor

On “The Black Dog”, Swift shouts out another of Healy’s favourite bands, the pop-punk group The Starting Line. The 1975 covered their 2002 track “The Best of Me” while on tour last year, days before Swift and Healy were first spotted holding hands.

She sings: “I just don’t understand how you don’t miss me/ In The Black Dog when someone plays The Starting Line / And you jump up, but she’s too young/ To know this song/ That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming.”

How Taylor Swift takes aim at Matty Healy on The Tortured Poets Department

Friday 19 April 2024 08:45 , Roisin O'Connor

Fans expecting a post-mortem of the musician’s six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn have been left surprised, as Swift seems to spend more time dissecting her brief fling with The 1975 frontman

How Taylor Swift takes aim at Matty Healy on The Tortured Poets Department

Travis Kelce says relationship with Taylor Swift is 'a crazy ride'

Friday 19 April 2024 08:36 , Roisin O'Connor

When did Matty Healy and Taylor Swift date?

Friday 19 April 2024 07:42 , Roisin O'Connor

Swift and Healy were first briefly linked in 2014. While neither party confirmed this at the time, Swift appears to reference it on the song “loml”, as she sings: “Who’s gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames/ If we know the steps anyway/ We embroidered the memories of the time I was away/ Stitching, ‘We were just kids, babe.’”

They met backstage in LA in November 2014, during a 1975 concert; Swift was there with Ellie Goulding and Selena Gomez. A few months later, Healy dismissed rumours they were dating as “ridiculous”.

Things were relatively quiet for the next few years, as Swift dated Calvin Harris, Tom Hiddleston and then her long-term boyfriend, now ex, British actor Joe Alwyn.

But then Swift made a surprise appearance at a 1975 concert at the beginning of 2023, where she performed her song “Anti-Hero” live for the first time.

She and Alwyn are reported to have split in April. A month later, fans are stunned as she and Healy appear to make public appearances as a couple, with Healy flying from the Philippines to Nashville to watch Swift play her first Eras concert in the city.

They are seen together, apparently on a date, at Casa Cipriani on 11 May.

However, barely a month later, it is reported that Swift and Healy have called time on their brief relationship. The Sun reported things were “back on” in July, but this was quickly shut down in a report published the same day by “sources close to Swift’s team”, as well as sources close to The 1975.

Swift spends a fair amount of time unpacking that brief relationship on The Tortured Poets Department, including on “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, where she seems to allude to Healy “ghosting” her.

“You tried to buy some pills/ From a friend of friends of mine,” she sings. “They just ghosted you/ Now you know what it feels like.”

Taylor Swift’s country-hued tales of bad boys & good girls are irresistible – review

So we have 15 extra songs on ‘The Tortured Poets Department'

Friday 19 April 2024 07:27 , Roisin O'Connor

No one does it like Taylor, honestly. Three hours after releasing The Tortured Poets Department, BAM, here you go, it’s a surprise double album, so here are FIFTEEN EXTRA SONGS. Good grief.

So what do we have?

First there’s “The Black Dog”, presumably a reference to the pub in Vauxhall (fun fact, I’ve been there). It’s a morose piano-based track, on which Swift sings in her most fragile falsetto about how an ex walks into the pub having forgotten to turn his location off. It’s pretty heartbreaking - I want to believe it’s about Joe Alwyn, her boyfriend of six years, but the line: “Were you making fun of me/ With some esoteric joke,” makes me think it’s about Matty Healy. ‘Cause, you know.

BREAKING NEWS: The Tortured Poets Society is a secret double album

Friday 19 April 2024 07:12 , Roisin O'Connor

“It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album,” Swift writes on Instagram.

“I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.”

Taylor Swift teases 'timetable' for The Tortured Poets Department album in new video

Friday 19 April 2024 06:55 , Roisin O'Connor

What the fans are saying so far

Friday 19 April 2024 06:54 , Roisin O'Connor

Swifties are lapping up the lyrical references on The Tortured Poets Department, choosing their favourite songs so far.

“’Clara Bow’ is for the fans that watched Taylor from the beginning,” writes Zainub Amir. “From being compared to Clara Bow, going from a small town and dreaming all her life to see the lights of Manhattan to being compared to Stevie Nicks making a crowd go wild for the first time at her fingertips to finally just becoming Taylor Swift, herself.”

“If Taylor Swift ever wrote a song called The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived about me, I’d go into witness protection,” Alex Goldschmidt jokes, referring to a song widely interpreted to be about the pop star’s short-lived romance with British musician Matty Healy.

He added: “’loml’ standing for both love of my life and loss of my life is the Taylor Swift twist that officially broke me.”

Taylor Swift shares message with fans as she releases ‘The Tortured Poets Department'

Friday 19 April 2024 06:45 , Roisin O'Connor

Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department review: Irresistible, country-hued tales of relationships past and present

Friday 19 April 2024 06:32 , Roisin O'Connor

With its playful narratives and hooks like anchors, Swift’s 11th studio album is a terrific reminder of her storytelling powers, Helen Brown writes:

Taylor Swift’s country-hued tales of bad boys & good girls are irresistible – review

Swift addresses trappings of fame on ‘I Can Do It With a Broken Heart'

Friday 19 April 2024 06:26 , Roisin O'Connor

Along with ‘Daddy I Love Him’, ‘Do It With a Broken Heart’ addresses Swift’s public persona, in this case the need to grin-and-bear-it even as she struggles in the aftermath of a breakup.

She sings on the chorus: “'Cause I'm a real tough kid/ I can handle my shit/ They said, “Babe, you gotta fake it till you make it” And I did/ Lights, camera, bitch, smile/ Even when you wanna die/ He said he'd love me all his life/ But that life was too short/ Breaking down, I hit the floor/ All the piеces of me shatterеd as the crowd was chanting “More”/ I was grinnin' like I'm winnin'/ I was hitting my marks/ 'Cause I can do it with a broken heart.”

Much was made of the fact that Swift continued on her Eras tour even after news broke that she had split from her boyfriend of six years, British actor Joe Alwyn. She also delivered flawless performances amid relentless scrutiny over her brief dalliance with The 1975’s Matty Healy, and then as she began dating Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce.

“I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it's an art,” Swift sings. “You know you're good when you can even do it with a broken heart.”

What the critics are saying so far...

Friday 19 April 2024 06:10 , Roisin O'Connor

Positive reviews coming in from publications other than The Independent, including five stars from The Times and four stars from The Guardian.

The Financial Times has gone with four stars, too.

The Guardian’s Alexis Petredis praises Swift’s lyrics on The Tortured Poets Department, writing: “Less cluttered and more conversational than those on Midnights, they return Swift to what you might call her safe space, letting a well-known ex have it in no uncertain terms. While ‘So Long, London’ appears to hymn the end of her six-year relationship to actor Joe Alwyn, the album primarily puts a shorter-lived ex in the firing line: tattooed unpopular with her fans, erratic, given to public statements cooler heads might think twice about, the figure animating many of these songs is evidently Matty Healy of the 1975, with whom Swift had a short-lived dalliance last year.

“But if we’ve been here before, it’s still hard not to be impressed by Swift’s efficiency and wit – ‘Oh, here we go again, the voices in his head,’ opens ‘My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys’, one of a number of lines that you imagine accompanied by a roll of the eyes – or her ability to turn a celebrity boyfriend into a relatable archetype: everyone knows, or has known, someone a bit like the poser depicted in the title track or ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.’”

Fans unpack Swifts lyrics on ‘But Daddy I Love Him’

Friday 19 April 2024 05:59 , Roisin O'Connor

Fans have quickly reached the concensus that Swift’s new song “But Daddy I Love Him” is a fierce rebuke to critics of her fleeting romance with Matty Healy.

She sings: “I'd rather burn my whole life down/ Than listen to one more second of all this bitchin' and moanin'/ I'll tell you something 'bout my good name/ It's mine along with all the disgrace/ I don't cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing.”

Then on the bridge: “God save the most judgmental creeps/ Who say they want what's best for me/ Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see/ Thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me/ And counteract the chemistry/ And undo the destiny/ You ain't gotta pray for me/ Me and my wild boy/ And all of this wild joy/ If all you want is gray for me/ It's just white noise/ It's just my choice.”

Read an excerpt of Helen Brown’s five-star review

Friday 19 April 2024 05:53 , Roisin O'Connor

In keeping with the literary (if ungrammatical) album title, Swift is on her most piercingly polysyllabic form here. In a year when pop music has been slammed by academics for dumbing down the youth, Swift will be charting words like “rivulets” and “litany”, as she eye-rolls at her own “teenage petulance”. She’s not claiming any grand titles for herself. On the title track she dismisses all pretensions – “You’re not Dylan Thomas/ I’m not Patti Smith/ This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel… We’re modern idiots” – before undercutting that self-awareness with a genuine plea for love and connection. Her ability to put her lines over is as compelling as ever. I defy anyone not to lean into Swift’s concisely charged storytelling.

Her conversational tone is given dramatic ballast by the mighty Florence Welch on “Florida!!!”. Drums come pounding through the soft, synth beds and the English singer howls of being “barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine/ Me and my ghosts had a hell of a time”. Welch can yowl threats where Swift’s thinner voice could ever only hiss – but that doesn’t mean Swift isn’t a woman in full command of her powers. The force she brings to “But Daddy I Love Him” is thrilling, as she lassos a few country tropes to charge her horses at online trolls. “I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing,” she warns, reminding fans that her “good name” is hers to “disgrace” with a “wild boy” if she so chooses. Their “sanctimonious soliloquies” are “white noise to me”, she sings. Swift is equally uncompromising on “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” – a track on which she assures listeners she is more than capable of standing up for herself. On piano ballad “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, she sneers at a lover who appeared to roar like a lion and left her with the blandest goodbye.

Read the full review here:

Taylor Swift’s country-hued tales of bad boys & good girls are irresistible – review

Stevie Nicks contributes moving poem for Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department

Friday 19 April 2024 05:45 , Roisin O'Connor

Stevie Nicks has written a poem to accompany Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Society.

The legendary singer-songwriter’s words are included as a prologue for the pop star’s 11th studio album, which is already receiving early rave reviews from critics.

The poem reads, in part: “He was in love with her / Or at least she thought so / She was broken hearted / Maybe he was too / Neither of them knew,” Nicks writes.

“She was way too hot to handle / He was way too high to try...

“He really can’t answer her / He’s afraid of her / He’s hiding from her / And he knows that he’s hurting her / She tells the truth / She writes about it / She’s an informer / He’s an ex-lover...”

Stevie Nicks contributes moving poem for Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department

RIP to “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”

Friday 19 April 2024 05:23 , Roisin O'Connor

I imagine for a long time, fans were expecting that The Tortured Poets Department would be, for the most part, a post-mortem on Swift’s longterm relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn.

While some songs certainly do delve into that (”So Long, London,” most devastatingly), plenty of other songs have closer ties to her brief dalliance with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.

She heaves a weary sigh at the opening of “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, referring to a man in his “Jehovah’s Witness suit... who the f*** was that guy?”

“You tried to buy some pills from a friend of friends of mine / They just ghosted you,” she sings. “Now you know what it feels like...”

Taylor Swift shares message with fans as she releases ‘The Tortured Poets Department'

Friday 19 April 2024 05:10 , Roisin O'Connor

Swift has posted to Instagram as she releases her 11th album...

“The Tortured Poets Department. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time - one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure,” she wrote.

“This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.“And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.“THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT is out now.”

Friday 19 April 2024 05:04 , Roisin O'Connor

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s Taylor Swift liveblog, where we’ll be bringing you all the latest updates, news, reviews and reactions to the pop titan’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.

We already have a five-star review from our critic Helen Brown, which you can read below:

Taylor Swift’s country-hued tales of bad boys & good girls are irresistible – review