Taylor Swift's 12th album theories explained by superfans

Metro

9 hours ago

Taylor Swift has revealed she is set to release her twelfth album, which will be titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The 35-year-old iconic singer is fresh off the back of the Eras Tour where she performed across the globe in one of the most impressive and highly publicised music tours ever.
While the singer only released her eleventh album, The Tortured Poets Department, last year, she has stunned fans by announcing a new album is imminent.
Enlisting her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and his brother, Jason Kelce, Swift teased her upcoming appearance on the brothers' mega-popular New Heights podcast with a clip announcing the album title.
In the video, which was shared on Instagram at 12.12am ET on Tuesday, Taylor said: 'This is my brand new album, The Life of a Showgirl.'
The cover art for the record remained obscured in the clip, but blurred images and clues suggest that a glittery orange will be the defining shade of this era, with Travis covered in golden confetti at the end of the clip.
Travis exclaimed at the end of the snippet: 'TS12!'
Fans have scrambled to work out some of the Easter eggs the star has dropped about the album so far, with a variety of plausible and completely far-fetched theories coming out of the woodwork.
Here's a breakdown of some of the leading fan theories from Swifties.
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Our Tay-Tay isn't afraid of a genre shift. Starting off as a country star, she moved into a more mainstream pop vibe, but has explored other genres throughout her music career.
Her 'sister' albums, Folklore and Evermore, released in 2020 and 2021 respectively, had a more folksy feel, with her 2022 release Midnights changing the tempo for a more upbeat pop album.
She brought things back to a mid-tempo emotional album with her blockbuster 31-song album, The Tortured Poets Department, in 2024.
This will be Taylor's twelfth album (excluding live albums and Swift's remade albums).
Orders for the album will be sent out before October 13.
The album is called The Life of a Showgirl.
The album is linked to the colours orange and green.
Swiftie superfan and Metro music reporter, Danni Scott, told Metro that she thinks TS12 is set to be an upbeat pop album for a few reasons.
'Taylor tends to do a colourful pop album, and then her more deep-divey albums tend to be black and white or muted tones. So the glittery orange suggests it's going to be very poppy.
She then reflected on the singer's Era's Tour and the use of orange in her wardrobe.
'I mean, on The Era's Tour, her most sort of glittery orange outfits were worn during Lover and 1989 and Midnight. I think if she were Easter egging, as she loves to do, those albums were the ones that had orange outfits.'
Danni even suggested that the new album will be much like her fifth studio album, which was her most straightforward pop-heavy album.
'I think her sound has probably matured quite a lot since 1989, and I think Taylor is very chart hungry in this era that she is in. She knows anything she releases will go to the top of the charts, but I think she probably wants a bit of a safe bet, as Tortured Poets wasn't well reviewed when it initially came out, so my gut is saying we're gonna get 1989 but with deeper, more emotional songs.'
She added: '1989 2.0. That's my prediction.'
And Danni isn't alone in her pop-album hypothesis, with fans echoing her predictions online.
'The life of a showgirl is 1989s mature employed fun cool older sister I can just feel it,' said alIiesversion on X.
The artwork remains a mystery, but it seems that the colours orange and green will be prominently featured.
Taylor's website now displays a mysterious blurred orange and green cover, alongside options to purchase CD, cassette and vinyl versions of the album.
Behind Taylor on the New Heights podcast set were several books with covers in orange hues. The books featured the works of modernist and neo-expressionist artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marc Chagall and Ruth Asawa, as well as abstract painter Mark Rothko.
Fans also spotted that Taylor may have hinted at the colour scheme in her Midnights album when she released the music video for Anti-Hero.
A grab from the video showed Taylor dressed in white with a bow in her hair, in keeping with her TTPD look, and another in an orange and green glittery showgirl look – could this be a The Life of A Showgirl hint?
Along with the orange colour scheme, green has also been showcased on Taylor's website, with fans hypothesising that the two shades could have a deeper meaning.
Some have suggested that the colours symbolise copper before and after oxidation – best highlighted by the Statue of Liberty.
'The colour scheme is copper oxidizing because a showgirl is on a pedestal for the world and over time, in the public eye they lose their shine… the weathering from being the target for the world's misogyny. #TheLifeOfAShowgirl' said fearlesskait on X.
'Exposure to air causes copper to oxidize, from orange to pale green. 'The Life of a Showgirl' is to be exposed to the world—to be put on a pedestal and observed as you change, judged as you lose your luster. Our tortured poet w/ the metaphors can't wait to listen! #taylorswift,' added camitwomeyy.
Fans have spotted that searching 'Ts12' on TikTok results in orange confetti exploding across the screen.
While the orange colour scheme of the album is all but confirmed now, it's a fun little addition for fans that adds to the excitement of the album's release.
The Clean singer has hinted she has worked with Max Martin and Shellback on this album.
Soon after the announcement landed, billboards appeared in New York and Nashville advertising the pop idol's new Spotify playlist, And, baby, that's show business for you.
All 22 tracks are songs from her back catalogue produced by the two studio wizards, who she worked with on the albums Red, 1989, and Reputation, suggesting that they could be the makers of the new album.
Additionally, the album features some of Taylor's most well-received pop hits, including 22, Blank Space, End Game, Style, Wildest Dreams, and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.
Before announcing the title of her twelfth album, Taylor Nation, aka the Official Taylor Swift Social Team, shared 12 images of Taylor in orange costumes during her era tour.
Many connected the dots that the number of images in the post was related to a new album release, but fans also couldn't help but notice that another singer made an appearance in the post.
Sabrina, who performed on the Eras tour as an opening act appeared in the twelfth and final image of the post. Could this mean that she is set to appear in the twelfth song on the album? Or was her inclusion a red herring? https://www.instagram.com/p/DNN0isCNpBb/
Supporting the rumour that she might appear, Sabrina shared a carousel image on social media of herself hanging underwear.
The July 7th post from Sabrina showed a number of pastel-coloured underwear, and a bright orange pair of knickers – could this be related to the main colour in Swift's new aesthetic?
She also captioned the post: 'Go put on some clothes!'
The quote was famously featured in one of the sketches between the two artists during the Eras Tour. https://www.instagram.com/p/DNBx8C4BxzL/?img_index=1
Gigi Hadid then commented on the post: 'But daddy I have nothing to wear ! !'
Fans immediately speculated that this was linked to Swift's song But Daddy I Love Him, assuming Gigi had insider knowledge.
'WHAT DO U KNOW GIGI?,' said Hometoswift.
'IS THAT A LYRIC GIGI ???????' said Candyce-ee on the post.
An official release date has yet to be confirmed, but Taylor's website confirmed orders will be sent out before October 13.
Of course, fans have already begun speculating about the actual release date.
'The life of a showgirl is coming 10th or 17th October,' said bejeweledress. More Trending
One fan posted a thread on X about why they believe the album would be shared on September 12th, linking to the time the website crashed, the time the Taylor Nation post was shared.
'Taylor's website went down at exactly 9:12pm, commencing a countdown to the announcement!!' they said. 'Taylor Nation also first teased the era by a post 'Thinking about how she said see you next era' posted at exactly 9:12pm that same day.'
'So with all of this being said I think we can confidently say something is happening on the 12th whether it's a single, or the album.'
We will have to wait and see!
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