At 12:12am on Tuesday morning, Taylor Swift plunged the music world into frenzy by announcing her new album on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast.
‘The Life of a Showgirl’ is the title of her 12th album with an as of yet unknown release date. That, the song names, the album cover and plenty more detail will inevitably emerge when Swift’s hugely anticipated appearance on New Heights drops on Wednesday night at 7pm Eastern Time.
For now, fans have been left scrutinizing how Travis and older brother Jason have helped Swift plant her ‘Easter Eggs’ – clues about the new music – in what, to the singer’s avid fanbase, are agonizingly short clips announcing the upcoming release.
The most obvious tease from the trio is in the background behind Travis and Taylor. There are small squares placed in front of books with ‘T.S.’ emblazoned across the front.
The one in pride of place, positioned centrally between Travis and Taylor’s shoulders, is orange – seemingly the color theme of the new release. But there are others to spotted in the 20 second clip announcing ‘The Life of a Showgirl’.
Directly behind Travis, and only really noticeable during the preview clip as the Kansas City Chiefs star moves, is a silver ‘T.S.’ square – the color associated with Swift’s previous record, Tortured Poets Department.
Taylor Swift’s latest album announcement is packed with clues about her new record
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The full New Heights episode with Swift will be released in full on Wednesday evening
As the camera closes in on Swift holding up the blurred front cover of ‘Showgirl’, another square can be spotted buried deep into the far corner – a red one, which corresponds with her album named after the same color.
Eagle-eyed Swifties spotted a fourth and final one when the camera cuts to Travis celebrating his girlfriend’s announcement – a purple one, which corresponds with ‘Speak Now’.
Furthermore, the books in the background have some very clear titles on them. One references Casa Wabi, an arts center in Puerto Escondido, Mexico – which also hosts weddings – and another is on Jean-Michel Basquiat, the famous artist. Underneath that, one about the designer Ruth Asawa is clearly visible.
But the most clearly Swift-related book is once again over Travis’ shoulder, titled ‘cats’. Every Swift fan knows how much she loves cats and for someone who deliberately leaves so many cryptic clues, that book is surely no coincidence.
It’s not the only cat-related clue related to this record. Last October, the singer shared a video of herself walking through Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium holding one of her cats – wearing an orange sweater.
The venue, home of the NFL team Miami Dolphins, was being transformed ahead of her Era’s Tour residency there. In the background of her and her cat was a sign for the seating section: ‘A12’.
Now, however, with Swift’s 12th album announced announced on August 12, the dual meaning has finally been made crystal clear.
The Hard Rock Stadium’s own TikTok page posted the video again on Tuesday morning, captioning the post: ‘A12 meant August 12 Swifties! We were an easter egg all along.’
Last October, Swift shared a video from Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium with ‘A12’ a visible sign
The announcement marks another big moment in Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce
There’s one other strange moment from Swift’s announcement. She holds up a briefcase to reveal her new album – a move some fans think references ‘the vault’ and the impending release of unheard tracks from recording sessions of previous albums.
But curiously, Jason describes the suitcase as ‘mint green with T.S. on it’. it isn’t mint green – it’s orange.
Perhaps it was an honest mistake by Jason. Maybe he is color blind. Or maybe, in Taylor Swift’s world where everything has a double-meaning, he was droppping another hint about what is to come.
