Taylor Swift fans convinced new album title is a reference to Joe Alwyn

No sooner had Taylor Swift revealed the title of her latest album than fans began to dissect it.

The record-smashing pop icon was accepting her 13th Grammy for best pop vocal album when she dropped the bombshell about the soon-to-be-released record.

“I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I have been keeping from you for the last two years,” the 34-year-old gushed.

“Which is that my brand new album comes out April 19, it’s called ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.”

She then added that she would “go and post the cover right now, backstage,” which she duly did, unleashing a flood of excitement onto social media.

Introducing the album with the prelude: “All’s fair in love and poetry,” Swift shared a photo of some handwritten lyrics, which read: “And so I enter into evidence / My tarnished coat of arms / My muses, acquired like bruises / My talismans and charms / The tick, / tick, / tick, / of love bombs, / my veins of pitch black ink.”

The words were then signed off by “The Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department”.

Fans swiftly (no pun intended) noted that the title alluded to a group chat that Tay’s ex Joe Alwyn shared with his friends, fellow actors Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott.

“Guys, Joe’s group chat with Paul Mescal was called the Tortured Man Club…,” one Swiftie wrote on Sunday night.

Indeed, in 2022, Alwyn, 32, and Mescal, 28, admitted to Variety that they were part of a boys-only group chat called “The Tortured Man Club,” founded by Scott, 47.

“[Scott is] just on it every day. He’s just on it by himself,” Mescal joked at the time, prompting Alwyn to quip: “Just messaging himself good mornings.”

Alwyn also touched on “The Tortured Man Club” in an earlier interview withGQ UK, explaining that the name was “I guess, a reflection on Connell and Nick” – referring to the roles Mescal and he played respectively in the TV adaptations of Sally Rooney’s two most iconic novels.

Swift also happens to be close friends with Mescal's ex, Phoebe Bridgers.

Taylor Swift embraces Phoebe Bridgers at the 2024 Grammys(Getty Images)

Swift fans didn’t hesitate to admit that they were thrilled by the whole thing, with many convinced that the new record would be a big middle finger up to the British actor.

“I’m actually so obsessed with the concept of this album already,” one wrote. “’All’s fair in love and poetry’ is giving ‘you treated me the way you did and it’s fair game for me to write about it.’”

“The tea Midnights was holding back is bound to be scorching,” another commented.

“Oh my god… this is gonna be the biggest f**k you album yet… and I am sat,” said a third.

And yet, despite these theories, it’s perhaps worth noting that the former couple’s breakup was said to have been pretty amicable at the time.

When it emerged that the pair had parted ways, back in April last year, a source told Page Sixback that the whole thing was undramatic.

“[The relationship] just ran its course,” they said.

It’s also worth noting that Alywn contributed to Swift’s work during their time together – earning co-writing credits on a number of tracks on ‘Evermore’ and ‘Folklore’.

Swift's new album title appears to allude to a groupchat shared by Joe Alwyn (top), Paul Mescal (far left) and Andrew Scott (left)(Getty Images)

Given that the new album has been a “secret” for two years, the implication is that most, if not all, of it was written while they were still together.

So is the title a bitter jibe at her “tortured” ex or simply a playful nod to him and the impact he had on her?

We’ll have to wait another two months to find out.

But it can be no coincidence that the record’s release is due to almost perfectly coincide with the one-year anniversary of their separation.

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