Taylor Swift Hinted a Double Album Drop As She Gives Fans ‘greatest surprise ever’

Taylor Swift fans have been sent into a frenzy after announcing her latest release was, in fact, a double album.

The megastar, 34, dropped her highly-anticipated eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, on Friday April 19. But two hours after its release, at 2am, she took to social media to release a second instalment: The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.

In true Swift style, the Cruel Summer star had dropped several numerical hints in the lead-up to the release – but fans were still left shocked by the announcement. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Swifties admitted they were ‘overwhelmed’ by the release, despite being elated at the news.

@SavLovesSwift said: “Kinda convinced Taylor just wants to shut us up with the double album theories because now that we have 31 songs I’m scratching my head like damn this is kind of overwhelming I need time to process the first one and she’s probably just like yeah no s*** but you guys wanted this”.

@alexandergold said: “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is the greatest surprise Taylor Swift has ever given us. A truly skipless double album that sounds like Folklore and Evermore got stoned with Midnights In the best way. An emotional roller coaster of intrusive thoughts set to music.”

Taylor said The Tortured Poets Department is 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 added: “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.”

We take a look back at the hints Taylor had been dropping the whole time…

Taylor first announced The Tortured Poets Department at the Grammy Awards on February 4, while accepting the award for Best Pop Vocal Album for previous album Midnights. While making the announcement, she flashed the peace sign.

Swifties now reckon she was telling us it would be a double album from the start.

In another Easter egg, the white dress Taylor wore to the Grammys is also the same one she wears in the music video for TTPD’s first track, Fortnight, featuring Post Malone. Of course, fortnight is another nod to the number two.

Teasing album updates ahead of the release on Wednesday, Taylor uploaded a short video to social media. Simply captioned: “The TTPD Timetable”, it showed a clock stopped at 2 o’clock and a note on a timetable giving details of a music video release.

Fans were quick to spot that the note was decorated with two stars on either side – another two.

Over on @TaylorNation13, it appears the star’s management had been dropping hints too. Among their tweets featuring the number two or the peace emoji was one revealing some of the album’s lyrics.

Sharing a photo of the lyrics ‘One less temptress, one less dagger to sharpen’ – which we now know is from the song The Albatross – fan account @swiftie1ncanada tweeted: “@taylornation13 they flipped the page at [peace emoji]! #TSTTPD #SpotifyTTPD”. Quote-tweeting the post, Taylor Nation said: “#TSTTPD lyric number [peace emoji] has been revealed at today’s in person board meeting!”

Fans even reckoned Taylor’s own emoji use on social media was a giveaway. Responding to Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s edition of her hit All Too Well during a Saturday Night Live sketch, Taylor said: “All Too Well (Ryan and Emily’s Version) !!! Watch me accidentally catch myself singing this version on tour. This monologue is EVERYTHING,” followed by two hand=heart emojis and two clapping-hand emojis.