Swifties have been enchanted and bejeweled, in a lavender haze and in a labyrinth, and now they’ll be ... tortured.
OK, not tortured literally. But, when Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” releases April 19, fans are expected to dive deep into decoding song lyrics and uncovering the Easter eggs that Swift has become known for.
“The Tortured Poets Department” has been available to preorder on vinyl, cassette tapes, CDs and digital versions since February. But some pre-sales were only available until Feb. 19 while supply lasted, her store website says.
The “Midnights” singer said “all’s fair in love and poetry” when she revealed the album and its cover on Instagram Feb. 4, just after sharing the news onstage at the Grammys as she won her 13th award.
“I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last 2 years, which is that my brand new album comes out April 19,” she said in her acceptance speech for best pop album.
Here’s how to preorder the album and what we know so far.
When does 'The Tortured Poets Department' come out?
“The Tortured Poets Department” releases 12 a.m. ET on April 19 and 9 p.m. PT on April 18.
How to preorder 'The Tortured Poets Department'
A standard edition of “The Tortured Poets Department” is available for preorder on Taylor Swift’s website, and those who stream their music on Apple Music or Spotify can pre-save the album here.
Special editions of “Tortured Poets” that each include a different bonus track are also on the market. The edition that includes “The Manuscript” is still available on her site in vinyl and CD (a cassette version is now sold out).
Target is also exclusively carrying five editions of “Tortured Poets”: A Phantom Clear vinyl with “The Manuscript” as a bonus track, as well as CDs with “The Manuscript,” “The Bolter,” “The Albatross” or “The Black Dog” as a bonus track, respectively.
Previously, Swift’s website offered more products with “The Bolter” as the bonus track. Its preorder window closed on Feb. 19.
Swift also just released a CD single of “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone,” that’s available to buy on her website until 8 p.m. ET on April 18 while supplies last.
'The Tortured Poets Department' tracklist
The standard edition of “The Tortured Poets Department” contains 16 songs without bonus tracks. Those track names include “So Long, London,” “But Daddy I Love Him” and “Fresh Out The Slammer.” See the full track list here.
Swifties have speculated that the album’s title is a reference to the pop star’s former partner, Joe Alwyn. He said in a 2022 interview — which went viral after Swift announced her album — that he is in a group chat with his friends titled “The Tortured Man Club.”
At her “Eras Tour” show in Melbourne, Australia, on Feb. 16, Swift spoke about her experience writing this upcoming album.
“‘Tortured Poets’ is an album, I think more than any of my albums that I’ve ever made — I needed to make it,” she said. “It was really a lifeline for me. The things I was going through, the things I was writing about, it reminded me of why songwriting actually gets me through my life. I’ve never had an album where I’ve needed songwriting more than I needed it on ‘Tortured Poets.’”
