Taylor Swift Wants People to Feel ‘Almost Angry’ at Her Upcoming Album
Taylor Swift said her upcoming album, The Life of a Showgirl, is more bouncy and exuberant than what fans have heard from her in the recent past. She’s proud and excited about it, but she said she wants it to inspire a surprising emotion in listeners: anger. Swift shared why she hopes listeners walk away from the album feeling something close to frustration.
Taylor Swift said her upcoming album sounds different from her most recent one
Swift worked on The Life of a Showgirl during her Eras Tour. She said her fast-paced, thrilling life during this time inspired her latest work.
“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” she said on the New Heights podcast (via Rolling Stone). “It just comes from, like, the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life.”
Her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, noted that the album sounds noticeably different from her last, The Tortured Poets Department.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to hear every single song on here, so I know they’re all 12 bangers,” he said, adding, “It’s a lot more upbeat … like fun, pop excitement … It’s a complete 180 from a lot of the songs on Tortured Poets.”
Swift said that this is what she was going for.
“My main goals were melodies that were so infectious, you’re almost angry at it,” she said. “We’ve made songs that I’m so proud of.”
Taylor Swift said the album’s color scheme reflects her life when she wrote it
The album’s bright color scheme, orange and teal, reflects its contents, Swift said. She picked the colors intentionally. The colors paired together feel “like kind of energetically how my life has felt.”
While these colors appear on the album cover, Swift will be releasing many other versions of the album in a variety of colors.
She’s not releasing any extra songs
Swift’s fans have grown used to getting bonus songs with her most recent releases. The Life of a Showgirl is different. Swift said she will only release the songs on the tracklist.
“There’s no other songs coming,” she said. “With Tortured Poets Department, I was like, ‘Here’s a data dump of everything I thought and felt in two or three years. Here’s 31 songs.’ This is 12. There’s not a 13th, there’s not other ones coming.”
She said she’s very happy with the way the album has turned out. She doesn’t think she could have added or taken out any songs.
“This is the record I’ve been wanting to make for a very long time,” she said, adding, “Every single song is on this album for hundreds of reasons, you know, and you couldn’t take one out and it’d be the same album. You couldn’t add one. It’s just right.”
The Life of a Showgirl will be available on Oct. 3.
