Just hours afterTaylor Swift's fans shelled out for her new album The Tortured Poets Department, the star has been accused of trying to con them by dropping 15 surprise new tracks.
Despite already splashing out for multiple versions of the record in a bid to get their hands on all four bonus tracks, fans will have to part with even more hard-earned cash when the super-sized record goes on sale.
After releasing her new album at midnight ET (2am UK time), Taylor took to Instagram to announce her latest record was actually a surprise 'double album,' after sparking a flurry of speculation by posting a countdown clock on social media.
Captioning the post, Taylor told her followers that she'd written 'so much tortured poetry in the past two years' that she wanted to share it with her fans.
Sharing the double album was called The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, she wrote: 'It's a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album. ✌️
Just hours after Taylor Swift 's fans shelled out for her new album The Tortured Poets Department, the star sparked a social media frenzy by dropping 15 more tracks
Despite already splashing out for multiple versions of the record in a bid to get their hands on all four bonus tracks, fans will have to part with even more hard-earned cash
'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.'
While the deluxe version is not yet available for Taylor's website, there were four dfferent versions of the original album available, each containing a different bonus track, are priced at £13.99 ($17.38).
The vinyl version, including bonus track The Manuscript, costs £33.99 ($42.23), while a 'phantom clear vinyl' is price the same.
This means that if Swifties were willing to splash out on every incarnation of the album, it will already set them back over £140 ($174).
It remains to be seen how much more this new supersized version of the album, and its various vinyl counterparts, will cost.
Despite the prospect of hefty price tag, many of Taylor's fans, who were still dissecting the first 16 songs, went into meltdown that there were even more tracks for them to enjoy.
Posts included: ''Swifties are insane'' babe TAYLOR SWIFT IS INSANE like girl what do you MEAN ''surprise!!'' secret double album hehe;'
'Ok Taylor Swift is incredible. She releases an album at Midnight... then 2 hours later announces it's a surprise double album and drops another 15 songs?!'
'A DOUBLE ALBUM. AND ONE OF THE SONGS IS CALLED CASSANDRA. I GET TO HEAR TAYLOR SWIFT SAY MY NAME. OK;'
THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: TRACK-BY-TRACK
Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)
Taylor appears to reference the end of her relationship with Joe Alwyn and her subsequent fling with Matty Healy in the first track on her album.
In the first verse, Taylor alludes to being in an emotionally fragile place as she sings: I was supposed to be sent away but they forgot to come and get me. Taylor then wishes an ex well who betrayed her: All of this to say, I hope you're okay, but you're the reason / No one here's to blame but what about your quiet treason.
In the second verse, Taylor appears to sing about a short-lived romance that failed to help her "move on": All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless Februrary / I took the miracle move on drug and the effects were temporary / And I love you, it's ruining my life / I touched you for only a fortnight.
A tuneful duet with Post Malone and a song seemingly about a two-week fling. The slow, electronic rhythms set the early tone.
The Tortured Poets Department
Another shimmering melody, and lyrics which suggest that Taylor, modestly, doesn't see herself at the top table of tortured poets: 'You're not Dylan Thomas, and I'm not Patti Smith.'
My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
Written solely by Swift, this song's dense electronic hum adds forceful notes. 'Once I fix me, he's gonna miss me,' she vows.
Down Bad
'Everything comes out teenage petulance,' sings Taylor as she bitterly surveys the fallout from an old relationship.
So Long, London
The first track to be written with The National's Aaron Dessner brings a change of pace, with a lovely, choral intro. 'So long, London, you'll find someone,' sings Taylor.
This is her first new album since the end of her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn and, while she doesn't mention Alwyn by name, speculation will be rife that tracks such as So Long, London are about him. Pictured together in 2019
But Daddy I Love Him
'I know he's crazy, but he's the one I want,' sings Swift, showing wry humour as she admits to falling for the bad boys. Produced, with real brightness, by Dessner.
Fresh Out The Slammer
Finger-picked acoustic guitar adds folky notes reminiscent of lockdown albums Folklore and Evermore.
Florida!!!(feat. Florence + The Machine)
An album highlight, this theatrical duet with London singer Florence Welch is an uplifting song of escape – from small-town life and a bad romance.
Guilty As Sin?
A tale of unrequited love, and a superb slice of 1980s-style soft rock. It even mentions The Downtown Lights, a 1989 single by Scottish band The Blue Nile.
Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me?
Big drums, a dramatic arrangement, and more dry humour in another song penned solely by Swift. 'You wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me,' she snarls.
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
A moody, stripped-down number worthy of Lana Del Rey, who has also worked extensively with the song's producer, Jack Antonoff.
The Alchemy:Sporting metaphors aplenty suggest a track inspired by the singer's current boyfriend, American football star Travis Kelce. Pictured at Coachella this week
loml
'You said I'm the love of your life,' sings Taylor on this warm, resonant piano ballad. In a smart twist, the 'loml' ultimately becomes 'the loss of my life'.
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
More 1980s influences on an electronic pop track that sees Taylor vowing to remain a trouper, despite any romantic strife.
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
'You didn't measure up in any measure of a man,' sings a disdainful Swift on a melodramatic ballad.
The Alchemy
Sporting metaphors aplenty suggest a track inspired by the singer's current boyfriend, American football star Travis Kelce. 'When I touch down, call the amateurs and cut them from the team,' she sings.
Clara Bow
It's tempting to think Taylor sees something of herself in a closing track inspired by an American actress of the 1920s who lived her life in the Hollywood goldfish bowl.
The Black Dog
Taylor refers to a bar in Vauxhall, London, The Black Dog that she notices her ex going to one night after he forgot to stop sharing his location.
She suggests her ex is going there to meet a new woman and sings: 'I move through the world with a heart broken. My longings stay unspoken, and I may never open up the way I did for you.'
Imgonnagetyouback
Taylor is torn between calling things off for good or rekindling with an ex in imgonnagetyouback.
Emotions are clearly running high as she sings: ‘Whether Im gonna be your wife / Or smash up your bike / I haven’t decided yet’.
The Albatross
Taylor is taking no prisoners in this track, referring to herself asone of the largest seabirds on Earth - famed for their giant wingspan and ability to glide seamlessly.
She sings about taking revenge with the lyrics: 'She is here to destroy you/ Devils that you know / Raise worse hell than a stranger'.
Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
Taylor makes references to a partner abusing drugs.
She sings 'You said some things that I can't unabsorb / You turned me into an idea of sorts / And I couldn't watch it happen'.
How Did It End?
Taylor appears to reference the speculation over her relationship with Joe Alwyn as she details in the chorus:
'Come one come all It's happ'nin' again / The empathetic hunger descends We'll tell no-one / 'Cept all of our friends / We must know How did it end?'
<!- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/tvshowbiz/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->
Advertisem*nt
Despite the hefty price tag, for many of Taylor's fans, who were still dissecting the first 16 songs, the news that yet more music had dropped sent them into meltdown
Fans were already fraught with excitement when Taylor hinted another announcement was looming, just two hours after the release of her latest album
After her newest project dropped at midnight, then just 16 tracks, Swift's fans noticed that a two-hour countdown went live on her Instagram page
'I'M STILL RECOVERING FROM THE STANDARD EDITION BUT LETS DO THIS!!'
'GIRL HOLD ON I'M STILL LEARNING THE FIRST!'
It's possible that the move had been orchestrated by the star's money-savvy father, who previously garnered a $15.1 million payday when her catalog was sold to Scooter Braun in 2019.
At the time, Braun via his Ithaca Holdings company, purchased Taylor Swift's original label, Big Machine Label Group, from then-owner Scott Borchetta, 60, for a $330 million sum.
A rep for the songstress in 2019 said that her father wasn't aware of the deal and didn't have foresight of what was in store to inform his daughter.
Fans were already fraught with excitement when Taylor hinted another announcement was looming, just two hours after the release of herlatest album.
READ MORE: Taylor Swift targets exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy: Fans spot key lyrics in The Tortured Poets Department
<!- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/tvshowbiz/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_2 - ->
Advertisem*nt
After the superstar's project, then just 16 tracks, dropped at midnight, Swift's fans noticed that a two-hour countdown went live on her Instagram page.
Many fans also speculated that the star might be planning to release her version of her2017 album Reputation, in the same way she's been re-recording her former records amid a battle for ownership of her work.
Swift had teased the 2:00 o'clock on numerous occasions in the past weeks.
In a teaser video for the release of the album she had a clock on the wall which was stuck at the 2:00 o'clock hour.Fans pointed out that in that same clip she also had two stars around the name of the album.
The clocks at the library pop-up and in her mysterious Fortnight music video announcement from earlier this week have all been set to 2 o'clock as well.
At her Tortured Poets Spotify library installation in Los Angeles there was a peace-sign statuette as well as another clock set to2 o'clock.
Swift also made a two sign during her Grammys acceptance speech, the same night she announced the album for the first time.
Regardless, the new record earned a flurry of praise from fans on social media, with some quickly labelling the LP a 'masterpiece.'
Posts included: 'IM CRYING RN. TAYLOR WE LOVE YOU!!!!; This is going to be the best album Taylor has made I know it.'
'13 seconds in and its already the best album; 'OMG Taylor this is a masterpiece!! Thank you for this amazing album!! Love you.'
'Me as soon as each track begins; 'I love this song!'
'I love it so much already; THIS IS THE BEST ALBUM YOU'VE EVER MADE.'
'You literally have a way with words that no one else has, it's SO breathtaking. THANK you for all that you do, once again. now if you'll excuse me, I got an album to stream all day;'
'Fortnight is so so soooooo good you and @PostMalone together #TSTTPD I can't believe I went this long without you two on a track together! I'm so excited to delve into this album!'
'the realization that this album is more about matty healy than joe alwyn; Joe Alwyn breathing a sigh of relief tonight #TTPD;
'She so real for this. This album is so good and the same unique.'
'It's crazy but her saying that they think Charlie Puth should be bigger just confirms for me that the song is 100% Matty. That is exactly something Matty Healy would say;'
'joe alwyn to matty healy tonight,' a fan penned, along with a GIF of, 'Call the ambulance! But not for me!'
'joe alwyn you will begin to cough in two minutes,' and shared the lyrics, 'And I'm p***ed off you let me give you all that youth for free.'
They were also quick to clock that Taylor's album offered plenty of insight into the end of his six-year romance with actor Joe Alwyn,as well as her short-lived fling with The 1975 rocker Matty Healy.
Taylor wowed in the album artwork for the eagerly-anticipated record
She showed off her figure while reclining on a bed
Taylor was subject to stunning close-ups
She gave the black and white shots her all after releasing the album
Smouldering pouts and sizzling stares accompanied the moody album
Many fans had predicted that The Tortured Poets Department album would be the ultimate Joe/Taylor 'breakup album' as it's been speculated the name was a direct dig at the British actor, who she dated from 2016 to early 2023.
Swift found herself in a whirlwind romance with Healy — though neither ever directly confirmed — that started in April 2023 after they were seen kissing in NYC.
But the fling ended as fast as it began after Healy's 'bad boy' image and 'racist' remarkscaused squeaky clean Swift to face backlash.
Swift is now happily in love with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce— but it's clear she still has a few bones to pick with the 'worst men' in her life.
After Taylor dropped the deluxe version of her album, fans were quick to spot that she had reignited her feud with Kim Kardashian by dropping an explosive diss track about the reality star.
Fans were convinced one of the 31 tracks - thaK you aIMee - is aimed at Kim, as the letter K,I and M are capped up to spell out her name.
Listeners commented on other lyrics, such as in the track titled, loml, where she sings: 'And I'll still see it until I die/You're the loss of my life.'
Fans also mentioned Swift dropping names in the lyrics to Tortured Poets Department, with some theorizing she was referencing to pals Jack Antonoff and Lucy Dacus.
'THE LUCY DACUS AND JACK ANTONOFF NAMEDROPS??!?' one wrote, and included the lyrics: 'But you told Lucy you'd kill yourself if I ever leave/And I had said that to Jack about you so I felt seen.'
It seemingly suggests a potential new announcement or a surprise coming at 2:00. a.m. ET
Fans pointed out that in that same clip she also had two stars around the name of the album
Other fans pointed out that the Tortured Poets Department logo itself looks like a Roman numeral two
One fan included the lyrics, 'At dinner you take my ring off my middle finger and put it on the one people put wedding rings on. And that's the closest I've come to my heart exploding.'The Swiftie then added, 'OH WHEN I CATCH HIM.'
Swifties had also been speculating since October about when the singer wouldannounce and release her fifth 'Taylor's Version' album. She released her fourth re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor's Version) last October.
The star initially announced that she would re-record earlier versions of her albums in 2019, after Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine Records and her catalog of master recordings.
Swift re-recorded four of her albums - Fearless, Red, Speak Now, and 1989 - and renamed them by adding 'Taylor's Version' at the end of the album name.
Reputation is her sixth studio album, released on November 10, 2017. It was her last album under Big Machine Records.
She now only has two previous albums left to re-release: her self-titled debut album Taylor Swift from 2006, and Reputation.
As her new album hit streaming platforms Thursday night, Swift published a lengthy statement on Instagram where she described it as 'an anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time - one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure.'
She continued: 'This period of the author's life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted.
'This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.
'And then all that's left behind is the tortured poetry,' concluded Swift, as she announced: 'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT is out now.'
Along with her thought provoking words, the lyricist shared a slideshow of gorgeous black-and-white portraits as part of the album's artwork.
The Bad Blood songstress - who recently teased a 'timetable' to her fans ahead of the LP's release - initially announced the album while attending the 2024 Grammys earlier this year in February.
The title of her latest work had caused fans to speculate that the name was aimed at her ex, Joe Alwyn. And earlier this week, Swift appeared to reference the actor as she shared lyrics from the album on X.
Hours before the album dropped, Swift revealed that the album's lead single would be Fortnight featuring rapper/singer Post Malone.
As the album hit streaming platforms Thursday night, Swift published a lengthy statement on Instagram where she described it as 'an anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time'
The Tortured Poets Department has a total of four versions, as well as a 16 songs and a bonus track titled The Manuscript
She also released a moody teaser for the song's music video, which will be released Friday at 8pm EST (1am on Saturday UK time).
While taking to the Grammys stage two months earlier, Swift sent Swifties into a frenzy as she revealed that a new album was on the way.
In the captioned, she had penned, 'All's fair in love and poetry... New album THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. Out April 19,' followed by a white heart emoji.
Since then, she has announced three additional versions of The Tortured Poets Department: The Bolter, The Albatross and The Black Dog. Each version - which could be pre-ordered by listeners - also contained an exclusive track.
One day after her album announcement, Swift dropped the official track list to the LP. She also has collaborations with other artists such as Post Malone on Fortnight and Florence & The Machine on the song called Florida!!!
As if 16 songs weren't enough, fans learned Thursday that Swift included a 'summary poem' with the album, where she appears toallude to the end of her and Alwyn's relationship as well as the fling with rocker Matty Healy that kicked off soon after.
Swift did not confirm that 'Fortnight' would be the album's lead single until Thursday as she unveiled the cover artwork on social media.
'I've been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever,' she raved.
'I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on 'Fortnight',' added Swift.
Soon after, the Pennsylvania-born beauty teased the single's black-and-white music video that stars both Swift and collaborator Post Malone.
