Taylor Swift has announced her much-anticipated 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl.
The 35-year-old pop star made the announcement in an unusual way compared to past album reveals, this time enlisting her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce to reveal the title.
The news came via a teaser for Swift’s upcoming appearance on their mega-popular New Heights podcast – with the episode sure to be widely watched and dissected by fans.
In the video, which was shared on Instagram at 12.12am ET on Tuesday, Taylor said: ‘Can I show you something?’
Jason, 37, replied, ‘Okay. What do we got? We got a briefcase? Mint green, with T.S. on it.’
Taylor confirmed: ‘Yup.’
Jason then asked: ‘What’s in it?’
Taylor the replied: ‘This is my brand new album, The Life of a Showgirl.’
Travis exclaimed in response: ‘TS12!’
The cover art for the record remained obscured in the clip, with Taylor’s website now displaying a mysterious, blurred orange and green cover, alongside options to buy CD, cassette, and vinyl versions of the album.
While the album’s artwork remains under wraps, clues suggest that orange will be the defining shade of this era.
On the New Heights set, behind Taylor, a stack of orange-covered art books nodded to an eclectic roster of inspirations: the urban grit of Jean-Michel Basquiat, the dreamlike colour worlds of Marc Chagall, the sculptural poetry of Ruth Asawa, and the meditative abstractions of Mark Rothko.
Just off to the side, a silver microphone and a football winked at both her current surroundings and her co-hosts’ NFL heritage.
The visual breadcrumbs continued online. On Monday (11 August), Taylor added a countdown to her website – a glittery orange backdrop framing a mint green clock – which ticked down to 12:12 a.m. on Tuesday, the exact moment her new album was announced.
The reveal dovetailed neatly with confirmation that the Blank Space singer would appear on New Heights this Wednesday (13 August).
In a teaser clip posted to X, Taylor complimented Travis on his sky-blue sweatshirt: ‘That’s such a nice colour on you.’
His reply was pure rom-com: ‘Yes, I know. It’s the colour of your eyes, sweetie. It’s why we match so well.’ Taylor, visibly delighted, blurted: ‘We’re about to do a f***ing podcast!’
Fans had been primed for her visit – the guest announcement image showed her unmistakable silhouette between podcast hosts Travis and Jason Kelce, framed in that same glittering orange and mint-green motif now synonymous with this rollout.
It has not yet been revealed when The Life of a Showgirl will be released, but Taylor’s website confirmed orders will be sent out before 13 October.
This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
For more stories like this, check our entertainment page.
Follow Metro.co.uk Entertainment on Twitter and Facebook for the latest celeb and entertainment updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.
