As it turns out, Taylor Swift was hard at work on a new album. The pop queen was seemingly taking some needed time off. She finished her epic Eras tour at the end of December, finalized buying back all of the masters from her Big Machine Records years, and maybe sitting back and counting her cash.
Instead, Taylor Swift wasn't just relaxing. She was working on her forthcoming record, The Life of a Showgirl. Her official website had a countdown timer that went off at 12:12 am ET on Tuesday morning. The 12 part is important because the upcoming record will be Swift's 12th studio album.
Swift is also set to make an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce's New Heights podcast on Wednesday. The Kansas City Chiefs' tight end does the pod with his former football-playing brother, Jason. As part of the teaser clip of her appearance, the podcast's and Taylor Swift's Instagram handles combined to show the singer officially saying the album was coming.
Taylor Swift announces she will be releasing her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl
The artwork is not yet known (on the teaser clip, the album cover is blurred out), and the official release date is also unknown. Swift's merch site is taking pre-orders for the album now, and the items ordered are set to ship ahead of October 13.
Does this mean the album will drop between now and then? It certainly would appear so. The album is available on vinyl, CD, and cassette.
Slightly off subject, many musical artists still offer the albums in cassette form, but one wonders how many buy them with the purpose of playing them? Cassettes sound worse than digital or vinyl, and CD players are rarer than turntables. Let's hope the cassette doesn't make a comeback.
If you are a Taylor Swift fan, you will not want to miss Wednesday's New Heights podcast. It drops at 7 pm ET. The expectation is that the cover work for The Life of a Showgirl will be released, and potentially even the release date for the record. You can watch the podcast on YouTube.