Taylor Swift Calls New Album ‘The Tortured Poet’s Department’ a “Lifeline for Me” While Onstage in Melbourne

“I’ve never had an album where I’ve needed songwriting more than I needed it on 'Tortured Poets.'"

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Taylor Swift performing onstage in Melbourne
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Much has happened in Taylor Swift’s life since the release of her last album, Midnights, in October 2022: she launched the record-breaking Eras Tour, which is ongoing and currently on its Australia run. She and her boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn, broke up last April. She and her new boyfriend, Travis Kelce, captured the world’s undivided attention upon publicly unveiling themselves as a couple in September 2023. She released a concert film about the Eras Tour, was named Time’s Person of the Year, broke yet another record at the Grammys (she’s now won Album of the Year four times), and watched her boyfriend win a Super Bowl, in overtime, no less.

Taylor Swift performing onstage in Melbourne

Swift has taken her record-breaking Eras Tour to Australia

(Image credit: Getty Images)

So, yeah, Swift has a lot of possible content opportunities for her next record, The Tortured Poet’s Department, which drops April 19—a reveal she made at the Grammys. During her concert last night in Melbourne, Swift said of the forthcoming album that “I needed to make it. It was really a lifeline for me,” per Us Weekly. “It sort of reminded me why songwriting is something that actually gets me through life and I’ve never had an album where I’ve needed songwriting more than I needed it on Tortured Poets.”

Alternate cover of "The Tortured Poets Department"

"The Bolter Edition" cover of "The Tortured Poet's Department"

(Image credit: Taylor Swift, "The Tortured Poet's Department")

The Tortured Poet Department is Swift’s eleventh studio album, and last night she also revealed to the Melbourne crowd that there would be a special bonus version of the record. “I wanted to show you something tonight because we’ve got an alternate cover to The Tortured Poets Department that nobody has seen and there’s an exclusive song on this vinyl called ‘The Bolter,’” she said in the leadup to a surprise song performance of “You’re Losing Me,” a vault track from Midnights. “This is called ‘The Bolter Edition.’ Look at that cover, it’s so tortured [and] so poetic. I wanted to show that to you here in Melbourne because you’ve just been the best that you could possibly be.”

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“The Bolter Edition” features a sepia-toned photo of the performer lying on a bed looking off into the distance, taken also by Beth Garrabrant, who photographed the other album cover, as well.

Taylor Swift performing onstage in Melbourne

Swift's last album was 2022's "Midnights"

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Of announcing the record onstage at the Grammys, “I had told my friends, I told [producer] Jack [Antonoff], but I hadn’t really told very many other people,” Swift said onstage earlier this month in Japan. “I thought, ‘Okay, if I’m lucky enough to win one thing tonight, I’m just gonna do it. I’m just gonna announce my album.’ And luckily enough, that ended up happening.”

Taylor Swift performing onstage in Melbourne

"The Tortured Poet's Department" will drop April 19, she announced onstage at the Grammys earlier this month

(Image credit: Getty Images)

She added “My backup plan was I was gonna do it tonight in Tokyo,” she said. “But thanks to you and your support, I was lucky enough to win a Grammy and tell you about it onstage at the Grammys,” before adding that “We can debrief tonight and talk about it.”

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Rachel Burchfield
Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.