The Conversation (0)
Celebrities
New Heights
The countdown is officially on!
A new era is coming as Taylor Swift has announced her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, and Swifties are already losing their minds over the exciting news.
This will be the pop star's 12th studio album. The announcement comes just under a year and a half after the release of her last record, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19, 2024.
Here is everything you need to know about The Life of a Showgirl.
Where did Swift announce the news?
If there's one thing we know about Swift is that she loves to keep us on our toes with how she announces an album, from the wiping her social media posts clean to promote Reputation, to announcing the release of Folklore just the day before, and posting the "Midnights Mayhem With Me" video series to share each of the song names for Midnights.
This time around, for The Life of a Showgirl, she announced the big news on the New Heights podcast co-hosted by her boyfriend and NFL player Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce.
Near the end of the episode, Swift can be seen with a mint green briefcase featuring her initials, "T.S," in orange on the front. She then opens it to reveal her new album, the cover art and the track list.
"This is my brand-new album, The Life of a Showgirl," Swift said, to which Jason screamed in excitement.
"TS 12!" Travis exclaimed.
What is the tracklist for The Secret Life of a Showgirl?
Swift also revealed the official track list for The Life of a Showgirl. She confirmed T12 has 12 tracks, and shot down any theories that more songs will be released, like she did on previous albums Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department.
Here is the official tracklist:
- The Fate of Ophelia
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Opalite
- Father Figure
- Eldest Daughter
- Ruin the Friendship
- Actually Romantic
- Wi$h Li$t
- Wood
- Cancelled!
- Honey
- The Life of a Showgirl featuring Sabrina Carpenter
Who are the collaborators?
(L-R) Shellback, Sabrina Carpenter, and Max MartinPhoto by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images and Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
We now know Swift collaborated with producers Max Martin and Shellback on this record - something she hinted at beforehand with the creation of a Spotify playlist titled "and baby that's show business for you," that contained 22 songs from her previous collaborations with the pair on her albums Red, 1989, and reputation.
Meanwhile, upon the tracklist being revealed, it has confirmed Swifties' suspicions that the album will include a collaboration from Sabrina Carpenter (who previously was a support act on the Eras Tour) as she features on the last song and title track, The Life of a Showgirl.
Taking to her Instagram Story, Carpenter shared her delight, "I know someone who's freaking out and it's me."
Eagle-eyed Swifties and Sabrina fans noticed the date "August 12 2025" appeared on her website, and Taylor Nation shared a photo of her with Swift earlier.
(And Swift is wearing an orange dress in the photo - a colour related to this new era!)
When will the album be released?
We now have a release date as Swift confirmed on the podcast that The Life of a Showgirl will be ours on October 3rd - that's only 50 days away!
Swifties will know the significance of this date, but for those out of the loop, 13 is Swift's "lucky number" is 13, so the 3rd days of the 10th month add up to make... 13.
What can fans expect from 'The Life of a Showgirl'?
"I would say it’s everything that was going on behind the curtain," Swift explained on the theme of the album.
With the success of the Eras Tour, and reaching new heights (pardon the pun) in her career, the singer reflected on how this new sound "just comes from like the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life. And so that effervescence has come through on this record.”
Swift would fly to Sweden to work on the album during her days off on the Eras Tour, “I would do like three shows in a row. I’d have three days off. I’d fly to Sweden, go back to the tour, and was actually working on this. I was physically exhausted at this point in the tour, but I was so mentally stimulated and so excited to be creating.”
Music-wise, we can expect "melodies that were so infectious that you’re almost angry at it. And lyrics that are just as vivid, but crisp and focused and completely intentional.”
Kelce remarked on how The Life of a Showgirl is more “a lot more upbeat, and it’s a lot more like fun, pop, like excitement. I think it’s a complete 180 from a lot of the songs on Tortured Poets for sure.”
To which Swift agreed and commented, “Life is more upbeat.”
Although we don't know what the tracks sound like, Kelce hinted that track 10, titled "CANCELLED!" is a "banger".
What does it say on Swift's website?
Taylor Swift
Swift's official website has also changed, as the colours from this new album era appear to be orange and mint green (just like the briefcase she had on the podcast).
Fans can already pre-order The Life of a Showgirl on vinyl, cassette and CD, and as well as the official cover art we saw on the podcast, there are four limited release deluxe CDs with alternative covers that can be pre-ordered too.
Here is a list of each of the versions available:
- The Life of a Showgirl: Sweat and Vanilla Perfume Edition
- The Life of a Showgirl: It's Frightening Edition
- The Life of a Showgirl: It's Rapturous Edition
- The Life of a Showgirl: It's Beautiful Edition
How have Swifties reacted?
As you can imagine, Swifties are over the moon at news of new music from Swift - here are some of the best reactions:
"Life of a Showgirl WHEN?" and referenced the iconic Mean Girls October 3rd quote.
"The life of a showgirl aesthetic is just so immaculate I'm sorry."
"The Life of a Showgirl vs The Tortured Poets Department."
No doubt Sharpay Evans would be a fan of this era.
"Taylor releasing an album called The Life of a Showgirl, accompanied by a doc giving us an actual look into her life as a showgirl during the Eras tour."
Genius.
"The way she was telling us The Life of a Showgirl aesthetic all the time."
Everyone is already imagining what the tour will be like...
"Almost forgot the entire point of being alive is getting to experience a new Taylor Swift album."
"No feeling in the world like a Taylor Swift album announcement."
Some deep lore there from the Swifties.
"TS12 IS CALLED “THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL."
"Prepared for whatever happens at midnight with only $200 in my bank account."
"No, you don’t understand. A Taylor Swift album produced by Max Martin and Shellback may actually kill me."
"After 437 days Taylor Swift is back we survived the drought."
Elsewhere, Travis Kelce compares relationship with Taylor Swift to Pretty Woman, and Taylor Swift sent 'secret signal' to fans when she reclaimed albums.
How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel
Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
Top 100
