Taylor Swift releases ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ marking her return to upbeat pop: Know release date, features, and more |
Taylor Swift has returned with her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, released on Friday after teasing it in August on Travis and Jason Kelce’s podcast.
Guest appearance and lead single
The album features a guest appearance by pop star Sabrina Carpenter and is Taylor Swift’s first new music since last year’s The Tortured Poets Department. The music video for the lead single, ‘The Fate of Ophelia,’ will drop on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. ET, and is written and directed by Swift herself.All 12 songs on ‘Showgirl’ are cowritten and co-produced by Swift, Martin, and Shellback. During her appearance on Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, Swift said it felt like an equal team-up for the first time.“It felt like all three of us in the room were carrying the same weight as creators,” she said. “We’ve been waiting years to come back together and make this project.”
Regaining control of her music
The Life of a Showgirl arrives after a major turning point in Swift’s career. In May, she regained the rights to the masters of her first six albums, ending a long-running dispute in the music industry. Back in 2019, music executive Scooter Braun had bought her catalog along with Big Machine Records. Braun later sold it to Shamrock Capital, and Swift eventually purchased her music from them for an undisclosed amount.In late August, just weeks after announcing her new album, Swift and Kelce revealed their engagement, two years after they began dating.
Recording during the Eras tour
Swift recorded The Life of a Showgirl while touring Europe on her record-breaking Eras tour. She reunited with hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback, who produced some of her biggest pop hits like “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “22.” This collaboration signals a return to a more commercial pop sound, and it’s the first time in years she hasn’t worked with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff.Swift shared on New Heights that working with Max Martin and Shellback on this album was unique. “We’ve never made an album before with just the three of us, no other collaborators,” she said. “It felt like catching lightning in a bottle. I told him, ‘I want to be as proud of this album as I am of the Eras tour, and for the same reasons.’”On the podcast, Kelce described The Life of a Showgirl as “a lot more upbeat and full of fun pop excitement” compared to Swift’s recent albums.
