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All the clues in Taylor Swift’s Grammys outfit that she was going to drop a new album.

Taylor Swift has announced her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on stage in the most Taylor Swift way possible: while on stage accepting her 13th(!) Grammy.

The Tortured Poets Department will be released on April 19, 2024 — during the gap between her very busy Eras Tour schedule. 

"Okay, this is my 13th Grammy, which is my lucky number. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that," she joked on stage.

Watch Taylor Swift announce her new album at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Post continues after video. 


Video via Variety.

The singer continued by thanking her fans.

"I want to say thank you to the members of the Recording Academy for voting this way, but I know that the way that the Recording Academy voted is a direct reflection of the passion of the fans," she said. 

"So I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I have been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my brand-new album comes out April 19th.

"It's called The Tortured Poets Department. I'm going to go and post the cover right now backstage. Thank you, I love you! Thank you!"

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Taylor Swift's album cover for The Tortured Poets Department. Image: Instagram @taylorswift.

Swift shared the album cover, and what looks to be handwritten liner notes or lyrics to her Instagram immediately after.

"And so I enter into evidence / My tarnished coat of arms / My muses, acquired like bruises / My talismans and charms / The tick, tick, tick of love bombs / My veins of pitch black ink / All's fair in love and poetry…," the caption read.

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She signed it off with, "Sincerely, The Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department."

Swift won her 13th Grammy Award on Monday, marking it as her "lucky number". 

Prior to her announcement, the 'Anti-Hero' singer seemed to have been dropping hints all along that an album was coming – and it was all through her outfit choices (and... a technical difficulty?!).

Here's what we know. 

A nod to Joe Alwyn.

The Tortured Poets Department is a pretty wordy title for an album name — especially for Swift, who prefers one or two-word album titles.

However, the title may be a dig at the singer's ex-boyfriend, Joe Alwyn

The actor previously said he was in a group chat with Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott called "Tortured Man Club."

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Of course, the caption itself is a cheeky nod to the classic film Dead Poets Society — but it was released in 1989, famously the same year Swift was born.

In April 2023, it was reported that Alwyn and Swift split after six years together.

A website error.

Speculation began earlier in the evening when Swift's website displayed a black screen error message, reading: "Error 321 Backend fetch failed Backend fetch failed. hneriergrd: DPT: 321".

And what is "hneriergrd" an anagram for, you ask? 'Red herring' – aka a misleading clue. Hmm... 

Fans also noticed that there appeared to be a countdown timer hidden in the script for her website:

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And while it looked like the site was broken, an eagle-eyed fan pointed out that it's more likely that the page was being scrubbed ahead of a major announcement.

A hint to releasing Reputation (Taylor's Version).

While Swift did not announce the release of her version of Reputation, she did seem to drop a big clue that it might just drop anyway (or at least, we hope).

For the awards ceremony, Swift wore a white strapless Schiaparelli gown with a long train. She paired the gown with black opera-length gloves, black heels, her signature red lip and multiple necklaces — one that just so happened to be a watch.

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While many thought it said midnight in a nod to her 10th studio album Midnights, others were convinced it said "3.15" and was the release date of Reputation. 

Alas, this doesn't seem to be the case.

On Monday, the artist took home the Best Pop Vocal Album for her album Midnights. The singer won over Kelly Clarkson's Chemistry, Miley Cyrus' Endless Summer Vacation, Olivia Rodrigo's Guts and Ed Sheeran's Subtract.

Feature Image: Getty.

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