Taylor Swift Fans Are Not Happy With Her ‘Sad’ Album Announcement: ‘Girl. Come On.’
Taylor Swift recently surprised fans by announcing that she has a new album, The Life of a Showgirl. While fans began speculating about a possible new release after a series of photos posted by Swift, confirmation came in a teaser for the New Heights podcast. Her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, hosts it with his brother, Jason. While many fans are celebrating news of a new album, they’re not all that impressed with the announcement.
Taylor Swift announced a new album
On Tuesday, Aug. 12, the New Heights podcast posted a clip to their Instagram account. In it, Swift showed Travis and Jason a briefcase and revealed that it held her newest album.
“This is my brand-new album, The Life of a Showgirl,” she told them.
While she revealed the cover art to them, the image was blurred in the clip. Fans can already pre-order the album on Swift’s website. Pre-orders will ship on Oct. 13, but the site states that this is not the release date. The official release date will be announced later.
The Life of a Showgirl will be Swift’s 12th studio album, though she has also reissued four albums. It comes just over a year after the release of her last album, The Tortured Poet’s Department.
Taylor Swift’s fans are not impressed with the album announcement
While Swift piqued fans’ interest with an Instagram carousel and a countdown clock on her website, many people feel let down by the album announcement. She has previously done surprise album drops, made announcements at awards shows, and teased fans with clues in the lead-up.
“She used to have exciting album announcements. This one is certainly not one of them,” wrote one Reddit user. “I’d never believe you if you told Swiftie me in 2019 that Taylor Swift would reveal a new album on her boyfriend’s football podcast.”
To many, an announcement on her boyfriend’s podcast felt lackluster.
“Did she really announce an album on her boyfriend’s podcast to his brother?” asked one person. “Girl. Come on.”
“Oh, how we’ve fallen,” added another user. “I don’t know why but there seems something kind of sad about going on her boyfriend’s podcast to tease a new album.”
Another group of her fans complained that the announcement meant they had to listen to the podcast.
“Taylor has led me places I wouldn’t even go with a gun,” joked one X (formerly Twitter) user. “Listening to a podcast hosted by men.”
“Not even Taylor Swift can make me watch that man’s podcast,” wrote another person. “God bless.”
Some worry that the album is coming out too soon after her last
For a number of fans, the method of announcing albums was less of an issue than the fact that the album was coming out at all. The Life of a Showgirl will be Swift’s fifth album of the 2020s, and she was a dominant cultural force during her Eras Tour.
“She needs to give people a chance to miss her,” wrote one person. “Releasing an album every year and being in our faces all the time will only make non-swifties feel even more repulsive towards her. Wouldn’t she want the opposite effect?”
Others worried that the rapid pace of album releases will impact the quality.
“She needs to stop mass producing albums like she is in a hurry,” wrote one person. “She just released TTPD the quality of the music is sure to be a downgrade. At this point its she is just trying to churn out at as much music as possible.”
The Tortured Poets Department received mixed reviews. Though it was nominated for Grammys, it did not take home any awards.
