Taylor Swift Shocks The World with a ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Double Album, Giving Fans 15 Extra Songs at 2 A.M.

Who needs sleep, amirite?!

aylor Swift performs during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at the National Stadium on March 02, 2024 in Singapore.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

To the surprise of no one, Taylor Swift has done it again.

After the midnight release of her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, the arguably most powerful pop star on the planet shocked the world with a surprise double album, releasing an extra 15 songs at 2 a.m. like the queen she is.

"It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album," the history-making "Eras Tour" singer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. She shared the same post on Instagram and across her social media platforms.

"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," her post continued. "And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours."

With the addition of the 15 extra songs, Swift's latest album features an impressive 31 tracks with a runtime, Page Six reports, of more than two hours.

A post shared by Taylor Swift

A photo posted by taylorswift on

Diehard Swifties and even casual fans alike were quick to share their elation after the extra 15 songs were released... although some were begging the singer to at least let them sleep.

"Look I am on song 38 at 2:51 eastern time, this is turning into a hostage situation," one fan posted on X.

"3am version this 2am version that lets do a 6:30-7pm est version next time," another quipped.

"The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is the greatest surprise Taylor Swift has ever given us," one fan tweeted. "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."

The surprise 15 tracks come after an impressive lead-up to the album's release, which included a pop-up poetry library installation in Los Angeles and in partnership with Spotify, which featured clues about Swift's latest project.

A post shared by Taylor Swift

A photo posted by taylorswift on

In a lengthy Instagram post, Swift proudly released her eleventh studio album to the world at midnight eastern standard time on Friday, April 19.

"The Tortured Poets Department. 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 wrote in the caption, along with black and white pictures of Swift indicative of the melancholy nature of the album.

"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," she added—a clear nod to the ongoing speculation that the album serves as a breakup record, discussing her former relationships with actor Joe Alwyn and controversial rockstar Matty Healy.

"And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted," she continued. "This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry."

Danielle Campoamor

Danielle Campoamor is an award-winning freelance writer covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mental health, politics, and feminist issues. She has been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NBC, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, and more.