NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift’s latest era is almost upon us. The superstar isn’t just releasing her 12th album in October — she also appeared Wednesday on “New Heights” for the first time to discuss it at length.
Part of the rollout for Tuesday’s announcement of “The Life of a Showgirl” involved the popular, typically football-focused podcast hosted by Travis Kelce — Swift’s boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs tight end — and his brother, Jason Kelce, the former Philadelphia Eagles center. Her episode, which ran just over two hours on audio streaming and an hour and 45 minutes via YouTube, was particularly revealing.
Here’s everything you need to know about Swift’s episode.
The big Taylor Swift takeaways arrived … swiftly
1. Swift partially announced her new album “The Life of a Showgirl” on the podcast, originally shared Tuesday in a preview clip. Swift told the Kelce brothers she wanted to show them something, revealing a mint-green briefcase that featured her initials in orange. Jason Kelce asked what’s in it, prompting her to pull out a vinyl record. “This is my brand new album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’” she said.
2. In the full episode, Swift revealed she worked on the album in Europe while she was on the “Eras Tour” — flying between dates to record, truly embodying the album’s title, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Then she read the track list. The entire album was completed in Sweden with producers Max Martin and Shellback.
3. Why orange? The color embodies “what was going on in my inner life during this tour,” she said, before referring to Martin as her “mentor.” “These guys, they’re just geniuses,” she said of Martin and Shellback.
4. “Bangers,” is how she describes the album. She also said, “There aren’t other ones coming,” referring to a surprising double album like in the case of 2024’s “The Tortured Poets Department.” The release is 12 tracks — that’s it. And it arrives Oct. 3. “I care about this record more than I can even overstate,” she said. “It’s a lot more upbeat,” Travis Kelce said, describing it as a “180 from ‘Tortured Poets.’” Swift agreed, adding, “Life is more upbeat.”
5. The album’s theme? “Everything that was going on behind the curtain,” she said.
6. The album’s goal? Infectious melodies and vivid lyrics, she explained.
7. The album’s cover? Themed after “the end of my day,” she said. “My day ends with me in a bathtub.”
8. She also shared personal information on “New Heights,” arguably in a way she hasn’t in years. For example: Her mom “got a new knee,” she said. And her dad had quintuple bypass surgery this summer. He had “five blockages in his heart” discovered through a stress test. “This was the summer of my parental upgrades,” she said.
9. She spent considerable time in Florida with Travis Kelce. She also said “our jobs are very similar,” it is “to entertain people for three hours in NFL stadiums.”
10. Jason Kelce asked his brother and Swift how they handle online chatter about their relationship. “We don’t, really. I don’t see a lot of things,” she said. “My name can be in the actual headline, and it’s none of my business.”
11. She shared her favorite segments from “New Heights,” her self-described “favorite podcast.” That is “new news.” She credited the podcast as getting her “a boyfriend,” and discussed how the pair started dating via friendship bracelet exchange. “If this guy isn’t crazy,” she joked, he’s the kind of guy she’s “been writing songs about.”
12. Swift also discussed the “Eras Tour,” which Travis Kelce described as a catalyst for his interest in Swift. She mentioned exiting through an orange door at the last date of the tour, a “subliminal hint that I may be leaving the ‘Eras Tour’ era,” she said. It was an Easter egg for “The Life of a Showgirl.”
13. Swift is known for teasing her fans with Easter eggs. Her favorite use? Getting an honorary degree from NYU in 2022 and littering her speech with references to her then yet-to-be-announced “Midnights” album. “Fans were like, ‘the whole speech was an easter egg!’” she said.
14. Swift listed her hobbies, which still include baking. Her current obsession? Making sourdough bread, specifically blueberry lemon, cinnamon swirl and Funfetti variations. She offered a few bread-related puns referencing her discography: “Are you bread-y for it?” “It’s a loaf story, baby just say yeast,” and “Loafing him was bread,” among them.
15. Swift discussed regaining control over her entire body of work. In May, it was announced that the popstar purchased her catalog of recordings — originally released through Big Machine Records — from their most recent owner, the private equity firm Shamrock Capital. She did not disclose the amount.
16. Swift said she loves all the rerecorded albums, but “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is particularly special — for the fan-favorite “All Too Well” vault track, which spans ten minutes.
How to watch — or listen to — Taylor Swift on the ‘New Heights’ podcast
Swift’s episode of the “New Heights” podcast premiered at 7 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday night. It is available to stream on YouTube.
Fans who prefer to listen to the show instead can do so via most podcast-streaming platforms: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, Spotify and Wondery, which produces the show.
The audio recording of the podcast is about 20 minutes longer in duration than YouTube and includes a rapid-fire question section, where the Kelce brothers and Swift discuss cats, pop tarts, Bad Bunny in “Happy Gilmore 2,” hiding in a cleaning cart at the “Eras Tour” and more.
The road to Taylor Swift’s episode
Little was known about Swift’s episode ahead of its airing.
On Tuesday and Wednesday morning, the podcast shared clips teasing the forthcoming episode.
“As we all know, you know, you guys have a lot of male sports fans that listen to your podcast,” Swift joked in one cut. “I think we all know that if there’s one thing that male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens it’s more of me.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid was supportive, though, saying Wednesday that he was happy for the pair.
“Both of them like each other, and what a plus that is. They care about each other, and I think that’s the most important thing,” he said. “The older you get, you want these guys to have somebody they can settle down with and that whole deal. And so I think it’s a neat deal for them – both of them.”
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AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta contributed reporting from St. Joseph, Missouri.
