Taylor Swift / TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (X) (SMOKE VINYL/2LP) (I)

The Tortured Poets Department is the eleventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on April 19, 2024, through Republic Records. It was expanded into a double album two hours after its release, subtitled The Anthology, containing a second volume of songs.

Swift began writing The Tortured Poets Department shortly after finishing her tenth studio album, Midnights (2022), and continued developing it during the Eras Tour in 2023. She conceived The Tortured Poets Department as an imperative songwriting project amidst the heightened fame and media scrutiny ensuing from the tour. The songs introspect on events from her public and private lives, detailing tumult and sorrow via motifs of self-awareness, mourning, anger, humor, and delusion. Produced with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, the album is a minimalist synth-pop, folk-pop, and chamber pop effort with rock and country stylings. The composition is largely mid-tempo, driven by a mix of synthesizers and drum machines with piano and guitar.