Taylor Swift announces new album: What to know about 'The Life of a Showgirl'

Show Caption

After a drought of 555 days, a new dazzling Taylor Swift era has entered the chat. Introducing: "The Life of a Showgirl."

Swift confirmed the news on a "New Heights" podcast teaser released at 12:12 a.m. ET on Aug. 12. The singer pulled out a blurred out album cover for her new project.

"This is my brand-new album, 'The Life of a Showgirl,'" Swift says.

Travis adds, "TS12," while Jason is heard screaming with excitement. The podcast will air Aug. 13 and likely provide details about her diamond dripping era.

Tucked on the shelf behind the couple is a jar of friendship bracelets and a new logo on an orange square with the yellow letters "T.S."

Fans can preorder the album on taylorswift.com, but no release date has been shared yet.

In another promo video, Swift sits next to Travis and compliments his light blue sweater, "Such a nice color on you."

"Yes, I know. It's the color of your eyes, sweetie," Travis replies. "It's why we match so well."

"We're about to do a f***ing podcast," she says smiling.

Earlier this morning, Taylor Nation, her in-house marketing team, posted like a canary in a coal mine, alerting the fandom to a 12th chapter. "Thinking about when she said 'See you next era…' ❤️‍🔥," the account posted with a carousel of 12 photos included fellow singer Sabrina Carpenter.

The "New Heights" podcast shared a photo of Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce next to a silhouette of Swift. The glittery background orange is the same background seen on a countdown clock on her website three hours before the announcement and also on her letter to fans announcing the ownership of her masters.

'See you next era'

Known for planting Easter eggs in everything from lyrics to fashion to concert graphics, Swift started teasing the new project in April 2024 when she debuted "The Tortured Poets Department" at her Paris concert. Eagle-eyed Swifties noticed her countdown turned orange before the opening sequence and her "Karma" door at the close of the show was orange. She debuted a fiery bodysuit seen on the first page of her official Eras Tour book next to a letter that read: "See you next era..."

Her team placed the book in a glass case at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. Each year, the display inside the Taylor Swift Education Center gets a refresh. In April, curators cracked the book open to its first page — a seemingly deliberate choice, as the exhibit’s theme this year is "Fearless." Many expected a page from that era, considering the display features her Roberto Cavalli "silver noodle" dress, Christian Louboutin boots and the Swarovski-crystal guitar her family bedazzled. In her letter, Swift writes: "There’s nothing I hate more than doing what I’ve always done."

For the past four years, Swift has followed a steady formula: two rerecordings one year, one original album the next. Now, fans suspect the next chapter is about to break that cycle.

Tracing the evidence

Hits Daily Double, a music insider publication that reports on industry rumors, got the Swiftie fandom buzzing when they published an article about Justin Bieber's album "Swag."

The original text said: "Justin’s new giant adds another rocket to the Lipmans' global arsenal, which already features monsters Drake, Morgan, Post and the left-field phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters at the top of the streaming charts. What's more, seismic rumblings of a new Taylor set keep the Republic team as aggressive as ever."

The article was quickly updated with the last line rephrased as: "And there's always Taylor."

Fans, like Tiktok influencer Jake Deyton, took to social media to express their excitement. Deyton pointed out that Swift's usual cycle for an album announcement is a single in August or September, followed by an album release in October or November.

A Swedish DJ may have sounded the alarm prematurely in April about an upcoming Swift project.

The Swedish branch of Swift's label Universal Music Group posted a quickly deleted clip of Jacob Criborn, part of the DJ team Nause, talking about the inspiration behind his "Canelloni Macaroni" remix. Criborn talked about working with Erik Arvinder, a Swedish composer and violinist.

"He did a string arrangement of 25. He got some brass guys playing trumpet, saxophone, trombone," he said in remarks translated from Swedish through Google Translate. "And they were like, 'We're just going to finish Taylor Swift's record and then we'll jump on 'Canelloni.' No, but we really kind of pushed for this song because it deserves it."

More breadcrumbs to "TS12" include her Instagram tease in Miami for the Eras Tour, when she held her cat Meredith in Hard Rock Stadium's A12 section. In March, she praised Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's new album, using 12 d's in a caption on her Instagram story: "oh my godddddddddddd." In the letter announcing the ownership of her masters, she had 12 i's in "thiiiiiiiiiiiis." The single numbers in the letter of 4, 6 and 2 add up to 12. The letterhead included a new "TS" diamond logo that would make Elizabeth Taylor proud.

The announcement also comes in perfect time for Kelce's 13th year playing football.

Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter This Swift Beat.

Follow Taylor Swift reporter Bryan West on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.