The 14-time Grammy winner shocked her fans when she released her 11th album. While fans were still listening to the 16 songs on The Tortured Poets Department , Swift released 15 more songs and named the second volume of the album The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology .
Volume 1 of the album was released in the first moments of April 19, through digital music platforms. Just 2 hours later, volume 2 of the album was released to the surprise of fans.
“Here’s the surprise for you, The Tortured Poets Department is a double album. I’ve been writing a lot of lyrics for the past 2 years and I wanted to share them with you. Now, this story is no longer mine, this story has become all of yours,” Taylor Swift wrote on her social media account.
Many fans expressed their amazement at Taylor Swift’s incredible artistic talent. “While I was still listening to the songs in The Tortured Poets Department , Taylor Swift released the second volume of her album. How can I live a normal life when my idol has superhuman strength?”, one fan humorously commented.
Currently, the reviews of the album The Tortured Poets Department are quite positive. The melody, arrangement, vocals, and lyrics of the album are all praised. Reviews in The Independent (UK), The Times (UK) and Rolling Stone music magazine (US) also gave Swift’s new album absolute scores.
The Tortured Poets Department is considered to be Taylor Swift’s most unique album. This is her ambitious musical project, expressing Swift’s multi-dimensional musical personality.
Many of the songs on the album use bold lyrics and melodies that express intense emotions. This shows that the singer is willing to take risks in music.
Swift developed ideas for the album shortly after completing Midnights (2022). She continued writing and developing ideas for the new album while on her Eras tour (her sixth tour of her career).
For Swift, The Tortured Poets Department was the “salvation” album in her career and life. Swift wrote this album by delving into her own intense emotions and personal stories. The songs were written out of the urge to write that came to her.
The album is a combination of pop rock, pop synth, folk… The 34-year-old singer wants to express her deepest self by telling personal stories through music.
Critics have seen the album as Swift’s way of expressing and relieving her inner turmoil. The album features both sadness and humor.
Taylor Swift’s artistic labor is something that the public admires. She released an album with a shocking capacity, right in the process of performing a world tour.
Touring is a very tiring activity and makes many big stars feel “bored”. Some stars are even afraid to go on tour because they cannot stand the pressure and harsh demands of touring.
Yet Taylor Swift has been quietly working on her new album while on tour. Each of her Eras shows lasts more than three and a half hours, with a set list of more than 40 songs.
Although it has not yet ended, the Eras tour has become the highest-grossing tour of all time and helped Swift join the billionaire club. Not only that, she also invested in making a movie revolving around the tour – Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour .
This film also set a record, becoming the highest-grossing film among films about tours. During the tour, Swift also recorded, filmed music videos for the new album and re-released the old album… Swift completed this huge amount of work in just… the past year and a half.
This tireless labor can only be explained by Swift’s own words. She told Time magazine (USA) about her state at this stage: “This is the time I feel the most proud, the happiest, and also the time I am most satisfied with my creative ideas, I feel more free than ever.
We can keep it simple, or we can make it as complicated as we want, but at the end of the day it comes down to one question… Are you entertained by watching me?”.
