SOCIAL MEDIA HAS exploded with excitement from Taylor Swift fans after the world-famous singer and songwriter has released her latest album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.

Swift’s 11th studio album was released overnight and announced on the megastar’s Instagram page. “New album THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. Out now,” she wrote on a post.

Hours later, the singer published a surprise second post announcing that an extended version of the album, which includes a total of 31 songs, had been released. Swift told her fans that the songs are based on poetry she had been writing over the last two years.

It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album. ✌️ 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… pic.twitter.com/y8pyDK8VTd

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 19, 2024

Swift had revealed the album’s release at the Grammys in February, a night that saw the 34-year-old billionaire win a record-breaking fourth Album of the Year prize. With the latest album, released at 2am (Eastern Time) this morning, the artist could be on track for a fifth.

Yesterday, it appeared that Swift’s album had been leaked online, a day early. The purported album leak came from a Google Drive link containing what is claimed to be the new Swift album.

Since her bombshell announcement, reaction from her loyal legion of Swifties has been rolling in on social media.

One person’s account described how their reaction to the new album went:

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP #TaylorSwift #THETORTUEDPOETSDEPARTMENT pic.twitter.com/j9A5obFrlO

— kenz 🪩 | era’s tour 6/23 & 11/1 (@boookishswiftie) April 19, 2024

Other fans seemed to have dropped everything they were doing to get their first listen to the two-hour long album:

every Taylor Swift fan right now:#TaylorSwift #THETORTUEDPOETSDEPARTMENT #TSTTPD pic.twitter.com/QKrDrzMTii

— WILDEST DREAMS HAHA 🧣 (@swiftoursonggg) April 19, 2024

Others had some homework to do:

hold on let me get out my thesaurus #TaylorSwift pic.twitter.com/DWKHT4Y5kr

— neha (@wednesdayincafe) April 19, 2024

Some fans thought the 31-track album was just a bit too much:

WHAT DO YOU MEAN 15 MORE SONGS!!!! Taylor are you insane ?!?’ 😭😭😭 #THETORTUEDPOETSDEPARTMENT #TaylorSwift pic.twitter.com/sPxc28Yxlw

— RJ Kingdom • tortured poet era (@RandomBookBoi) April 19, 2024

But a large number of fans have also been working since the release of the album, trying to decipher the lyrics and read through the lines. 

The (current) working theory is that the album centers on her ex-partner, British actor Joe Alwyn, who Swift dated starting in 2016 until they broke up about a year ago.

Alwyn and Irish actor Paul Mescal revealed in 2022 that they had a group chat entitled “The Tortured Man Club,” which also included Andrew Scott.

The Swifties think their queen’s album title is a likely reference to that text circle. Which is creating a new meaning for her previous songs.

My girl was fighting for her life as we all dedicated LOVER to our significant others. #TaylorSwift pic.twitter.com/EWlN8bqEzo

— Dennise Sophia Yanes (@ohneezyyy) April 19, 2024

Topping charts with Beyonce

Swift – who was born in Pennsylvania on December 13, 1989 – began writing songs professionally as a teenager, signing with Nashville’s Big Machine Records as a country artist.

With “The Tortured Poets Department,” she stands to make waves once more, although she’ll face stiff competition from the likes of Beyonce and Billie Eilish next awards season.

Beyonce dropped her latest album, statement-making “Cowboy Carter” on 29 March. That offered a charts cushion – whether intentional or not – that would allow both her and Swift to notch wins.

The two reigning stars are often pitted against each other as rivals although they’ve repeatedly taken steps over the years to dismiss the notion.

They will almost certainly be competing for next year’s top Grammys, as will Eilish, whose third album “Hit Me Hard and Soft” is due out on 17 May.

But these wildly wealthy, supremely talented and conversation-commanding artists have all emphasised that at the end of the day, it’s about the music.

Writing her forthcoming album “kind of reminded me of why songwriting is something that actually gets me through my life,” Swift told fans at a recent show.

Contains reporting from © AFP 2024