Taylor Swift fans might be calling in sick for work after the music superstar kept them up extra late and pulled off the ultimate power move by surprising fans with a double album announcement at midnight MDT Friday after dropping “The Tortured Poets Department” two hours earlier.
Swifties were caught by surprise when the clock struck 10 p.m.; there was a two hour countdown timer on Swift’s Instagram profile. It allowed fans enough time to get through the original 16 tracks of the album before she announced on social media she had dropped 15 more tracks on “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.”
“It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album. ✌️ 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. 🤍,” Swift posted on Instagram.
However, she didn’t make the move without dropping Easter eggs for eagle-eyed fans first. Earlier this week, fans started noticing how often Swift was referencing the number two.
She held up two fingers when announcing the album during the Grammys, a clock was set to two in the Spotify library art pop-up in Los Angeles, and Post Malone and Florence Welch, who both feature on the album, recently shared public instances of holding up the number two with their hands.
The album includes references to multiple historical figures, Greek mythology and poets, and fans are also speculating if some of the songs refer to Swift’s exes, as well as some of her rivals.
Fan reactions to Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
The true blue Swifties who stayed up through the night to hear the entire 31-track album shared strong reactions and support for Swift’s work.
Here are some of those reactions:
Critical reactions to Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
Here are some initial critical reactions to Swift’s raw, vulnerable and poetic collection of songs:
- “These 31 pensive pop tracks are the antithesis to “Lover.” Heartbreak and misery wrapped in melody. Rainbows faded into sepia tone. An era endured not enjoyed,” Melissa Ruggieri wrote for USA Today.
- “Time and again, Swift has identified artistic opportunities that other stars would have blanched at (or at the very least, set aside for a different time, so as to not muck up any professional momentum), and she has leapt into them fearlessly, always coming out on top. ... The Tortured Poets Department is extreme in its emotions and uninterested in traditional hits; not everyone will love it, but the ones who get it will adore it fiercely. As Swift continues this current astonishing run of superstardom, she has once again pushed herself to strike a new pose. It’s what makes her special — and what turns The Tortured Poets Department into yet another triumph,” Jason Lipshutz wrote for Billboard.
- “In moments, her 11th album feels like a bloodletting: A cathartic purge after a major heartbreak delivered through an ascendant vocal run, an elegiac verse, or mobile, synthesized productions that underscore the powers of Swift’s storytelling,” Maria Sherman wrote for The Associated Press.
- “As breakup albums go, it’s a doozy, as they would have said back in Clara Bow’s day — an unapologetically dramatic (if often witty) record that will be soundtracking untold millions of tragic rifts to come,” Chris Willman wrote for Variety.
- “The Eras Tour took over the world in a way that I don’t think she even expected. With that nostalgic momentum, she could have released an album that leaned heavily on familiarity. It might have been good, even great, but Taylor is at her best when she’s challenging herself to subvert expectations. ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ isn’t the album people thought it would be. It’s rawer. It’s funnier. It’s more poetic and unapologetically dramatic. Most of all, it’s another classic from the preeminent songwriter of her generation,” Josh Kurp wrote for UPROXX.
- “I love this album to pieces,” Rob Sheffield wrote for Rolling Stone.