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The Tortured Poets Department
Black-and-white image of Swift lying on a bed. The album title is displayed on the image. The image is surrounded by a thick white border.
Standard cover
Studio album by
Taylor Swift
ReleasedApril 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
Recorded2022–2023
GenreSynth-pop
Length65:08 (standard)
122:21 (The Anthology)
LabelRepublic
Producer
Taylor Swift chronology
1989 (Taylor's Version)
(2023) 		The Tortured Poets Department
(2024)
Alternative cover
Against a dark background, Swift strikes an artistic pose, bending her torso and holding her head.
The Anthology double album cover
Singles from The Tortured Poets Department
  1. "Fortnight"
    Released: April 19, 2024

The Tortured Poets Department (often shortened to Tortured Poets) is the eleventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Released on April 19, 2024, via Republic Records, the album was written and produced by Swift, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner. Swift announced the album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on February 4, 2024, after winning Best Pop Vocal Album for her tenth studio album, Midnights (2022).

Swift conceived The Tortured Poets Department shortly after finishing work on Midnights and continued developing the former during the Eras Tour (2023–2024), her ongoing sixth concert tour. Self-described as her "lifeline" album, The Tortured Poets Department was perceived by Swift as a culmination of imperative songwriting. Issued as a double album, the second volume subtitled The Anthology was surprise-released two hours after the standard edition. Post Malone features on "Fortnight", which was released as the lead single, and Florence and the Machine features on "Florida!!!".

The standard edition of The Tortured Poets Department is a synth-pop album with stylings of rock and folk, and its production is driven by synths and drum machines with fusions of piano and guitar. The second volume consists of mostly piano ballads. The songs delve into Swift's psyche and introspect on her public and private lives, blending sorrow and humor. Music critics received the album with mostly positive reviews, noting the cathartic nature in its songwriting and the nuanced production.

Background

Swift released her tenth studio album, Midnights, on October 21, 2022, to widespread commercial and critical success.[1] In 2023, she released two re-recorded albums, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) and 1989 (Taylor's Version), as part of her re-recording project.[2] On February 4, 2024, the day of the 66th Annual Grammy Awards where Midnights had been nominated, Swift teased the release of a new album by changing the profile pictures across her social media accounts to black-and-white. Fans speculated online that she was preparing to release Reputation (Taylor's Version), a forthcoming re-recording of her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017).[3] Swift's website also appeared as if it had malfunctioned, reporting an unusual non-standard HTTP status code 321, as well as error code "hneriergrd", which fans deciphered to be an anagram spelling "red herring."[4] The source code of the website contained non-English words.[5]

On February 4, 2024, Swift won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year for Midnights; in her acceptance speech for the former, she announced a new studio album that she had worked on since 2022,[6] titled The Tortured Poets Department, set for release on April 19, 2024.[7][8] The album cover artwork was posted to her social media accounts, along with a photograph of a handwritten note, which incorporated English translations of the words from the source code:[5][9]

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...

Sincerely, The Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department.[10]

Conception

Swift characterized The Tortured Poets Department as a "lifeline" album—one that she "really needed" to make.[11] She began conceiving the album immediately after submitting Midnights to her record label, Republic Records, and continued working on it in secret throughout the U.S. leg of the Eras Tour in 2023.[12] According to Swift, creating the album proved to her the integral role of songwriting in her life. She stated, "I have never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I needed it on Tortured Poets."[13]

In an Instagram post announcing the album's release, Swift further characterized the album as "an anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure."[14]

Music and lyrics

Man in a hat
Post Malone (pictured, left) features on "Fortnight", and Florence and the Machine (frontwoman Florence Welch pictured, right) features on on "Florida!!!".

The Tortured Poets Department consists of sixteen standard songs and features two guest acts—the American rapper Post Malone on the lead single "Fortnight" and the English indie rock band Florence and the Machine, led by singer-songwriter Florence Welch, on the song "Florida!!!".[15] The album was primarily written by Swift with longtime collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner; Welch and Malone also co-wrote their respective collaborations with Swift.[16] Billboard opined that The Tortured Poets Department is modeled after the five stages of grief, a psychological theory proposed by Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in 1969, as speculated by a number of fans,[17] with "knowingly messy, wildly unguarded" songwriting.[18] The Tortured Poets Department is also characterized by its sense of meta-reference, fourth wall, and self-awareness; Business Insider journalist Callie Ahlgrim described the album's content as Swift's "messiest, horniest, and funniest", while Paul Bridgwater of The Line of Best Fit noticed underlying themes of anger and mourning.[19][20] In The Independent, Helen Brown suggested that Swift's songwriting draws on her country roots to explore longer narratives than did its predecessor, Midnights.[21]

Critics described the standard edition as a synth-pop album[a] whose mid-tempo production incorporates prominent synths and drum machines.[25][26][27] Several tracks feature a more stripped-down instrumentation, driven by piano[22][25] or guitar,[28] with stylings of rock and folk.[19] Swift mostly sings in her lower vocal register to deliver rap-like, conversational verses.[25][29] The Guardian's Alexis Petridis wrote that its sound "splits the difference between the glossy 80s-influenced pop-rock of 1989 and the small-hours understatement of Midnights".[30] Writing for The Times, Will Hodgkinson described the album as an amalgam of synth-pop, 1980s power ballads, and "the emotional AOR of Stevie Nicks".[31]

The second part of the double album, subtitled The Anthology, mostly consists of piano ballads[32] that are instrumented with Dessner's picked acoustic guitar, soft piano, and subtle synths.[24] According to the BBC's Mark Savage, this second half features a more "sedate" sound that evokes Swift's 2020 albums, Folklore and Evermore.[33]

Title and artwork

The album's official logo features its abbreviated title.

The lack of an apostrophe in the official title, as in The Tortured Poets' Department, was the subject of a debate over grammatical correctness. Scholars stated that Swift employed Tortured Poets as an attributive noun, as in the case with the 1989 drama film Dead Poets Society, and not as a possessive noun that warrants an apostrophe.[34] A fan theory posits that the title of the album comes as a dig to a group chat shared between Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, and Joe Alwyn titled "The Tortured Man Club." However, it is unclear whether or not this is the case.[35]

The cover artwork, photographed by American photographer Beth Garrabrant, is a black-and-white glamour photo shot of Swift lying on a bed wearing black lingerie: a see-through top and high waist shorts,[36][37][38] from the fashion labels The Row and Yves Saint Laurent.[37][39] Both the artwork and title were parodied by numerous brands, organizations, sports teams, and franchises, and inspired numerous memes.[40][41][42]

Promotion and release

The Tortured Poets Department was released on April 19, 2024, during National Poetry Month.[8] A double album edition, subtitled The Anthology and containing 15 bonus tracks, was surprise-released two hours later on the same day.[43] Swift revealed the standard track list and guest features on her social media on February 6, 2024.[15] Four physical editions of the album, each titled after and containing a bonus track, namely "The Manuscript", "The Bolter", "The Albatross", and "The Black Dog", was also be made available for purchase; Swift announced the latter three editions during the Asia-Pacific leg of the Eras Tour, her sixth headlining concert tour.[44] One of the collector's edition deluxe CDs of the album sold out on her website in its first two hours of availability.[45][46] Physical copies of the album also feature an original poem by Stevie Nicks.[47]

The album was promoted by digital service providers such as Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads. It included five Swift-curated Apple Music playlists inspired by the stages of grief and an Easter egg hunt for new lyrics within the playlists' songs;[48][49][50] a pop-up library of curated articles at The Grove, Los Angeles, hosted by Spotify;[51] QR code murals in various cities worldwide that lead to unlisted YouTube shorts on Swift's channel;[52][53] a countdown to the album's release revealed upon refreshing Swift's Instagram profile; and special shimmer effects on Threads posts tagged with hashtags related to Swift and the album.[54] Radio platforms iHeartRadio, which temporarily rebranded as iHeartTaylor, and Sirius XM also announced special programs in tribute of the album, featuring exclusive content from Swift.[55][56][57] NBC provided live updates on the album's release.[58]

The standard edition of the album was leaked in its entirety on April 17, 2024, two days before its official release,[59] which resulted in the phrase "Taylor Swift leak" being temporarily banned from searches on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).[60] On April 18, Swift announced "Fortnight" as the lead single, released in conjunction with the album.[61] Later that day, Swift posted a teaser trailer for its accompanying music video, set for release on the album's release day.[62] Following several Easter eggs hinting to the number "2", including a countdown on Swift's Instagram page, The Anthology was released two hours after the standard edition.[63]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.0/10[64]
Metacritic84/100[65]
Review scores
SourceRating
The A.V. ClubB[66]
The Daily Telegraph[b]
The Guardian[30]
The Independent[21]
NME[23]
Paste3.6/10[67]
Rolling Stone[c]
The Times[69]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, The Tortured Poets Department received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 from 12 critic scores.[65] A number of critics, such as The Independent's Helen Brown and The Times' Dan Cairns, praised the album's musical composition, vocal stylings and lyrical tonality.[21][69] Bridgwater dubbed it Swift's most cohesive body of work to-date, finding the music sophisticated and the lyricism symbolic.[20] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of Financial Times opined that the album shows her style evolving, ranging from "charmingly cheesy" to "moodily melodramatic", praising the writing and the "characteristically appealing turn" from Swift.[70]

The album's emotional scope was often a source of compliment in the reviews. Writing for Rolling Stone, music journalist Rob Sheffield described the album as Swift's most personal, "wildly ambitious and gloriously chaotic" project.[68] Variety's Chris Willman agreed, calling it an "audacious, transfixing" project that combines "cleverness with catharsis".[22] Billboard editor Jason Lipshutz opined that "unbridled emotion and unkempt drama" anchors the album.[18] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian opined that the album boasts Swift's witty, "most cutting" lyrics, featuring nuanced musical choices that shows Swift is "willing to take risks in a risk-averse era for pop".[30]

Several critics argued that Swift and Antonoff's collaboration on The Tortured Poets Department resulted in a sound that was too familiar to their past music that it turned out uninventive, as discussed by The New York Times' Lindsay Zoladz,[71] NME's Laura Molloy,[23] Stereogum's Tom Breihan, who suggested that it was Swift's "aesthetic comfort zone",[29] and The New Yorker's Amanda Petrusich, who favored Dessner's input as "gentler, more tender, and more surprising".[72] The BBC's Mark Savage additionally took issue with how "[Swift's] vocals mannerisms have become overly familiar".[33] In an outright negative review, Paste dubbed the album as "the mark of an artist now interested in seeing how much their empire can atone for the sins of mediocrity".[67] Mary Kate Carr of The A.V. Club contended that despite being a "perfectly good album", The Tortured Poets Department arrived at a time when Swift is "left with nothing to prove" and so became uninteresting and marked a stagnant point in her career.[66]

Commercial performance

On April 18, 2024, a day before the release, Spotify announced that The Tortured Poets Department broke the record for the most pre-saved album in the platform's history.[73] It was then announced that the album became 2024's most streamed album in a single day in less than 12 hours after its release.[74] The album became the first in Spotify history to surpass 200 and 300 million streams in its first day, thus breaking the all-time record for most streamed album in a single day, previously held by Swift's own Midnights.[75] The album also became the most streamed album in a single day on Amazon Music with less than 12 hours of availability,[76] and surpassed Midnights to become the most streamed pop album in a single day on Apple Music.[77] Target confirmed that The Tortured Poets Department was its "largest music pre-order of all time".[78]

Track listing

The Tortured Poets Department standard edition track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Fortnight" (featuring Post Malone)
3:48
2."The Tortured Poets Department"
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
4:53
3."My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys"Swift
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
3:23
4."Down Bad"
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
4:21
5."So Long, London"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
4:22
6."But Daddy I Love Him"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Antonoff
5:40
7."Fresh Out the Slammer"
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
3:30
8."Florida!!!" (featuring Florence and the Machine)
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
3:35
9."Guilty as Sin?"
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
4:14
10."Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?"Swift
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
5:34
11."I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)"
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
2:36
12."Loml"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
4:37
13."I Can Do It With a Broken Heart"
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
3:38
14."The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
4:05
15."The Alchemy"
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
3:16
16."Clara Bow"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
3:36
Total length:65:08
The Tortured Poets Department: The Black Dog Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
17."The Black Dog"Swift
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
3:58
Total length:69:06
The Tortured Poets Department: The Albatross Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
17."The Albatross"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
3:03
Total length:68:11
The Tortured Poets Department: The Bolter Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
17."The Bolter"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
3:58
Total length:69:06
The Tortured Poets Department: The Manuscript Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
17."The Manuscript"Swift
  • Swift
  • Dessner
3:44
Total length:68:52
The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
17."The Black Dog"Swift
  • Swift
  • Dessner
3:58
18."Imgonnagetyouback"
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
3:42
19."The Albatross"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
3:03
20."Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
3:33
21."How Did It End?"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
3:58
22."So High School"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
3:48
23."I Hate It Here"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
4:03
24."Thank You Aimee"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Antonoff
4:23
25."I Look in People's Windows"
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
  • Patrik Berger
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
  • Berger
2:11
26."The Prophecy"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
4:09
27."Cassandra"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
4:00
28."Peter"Swift
  • Swift
  • Dessner
4:43
29."The Bolter"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
3:58
30."Robin"
  • Swift
  • Dessner
  • Swift
  • Dessner
4:00
31."The Manuscript"Swift
  • Swift
  • Dessner
3:44
Total length:122:21

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies a vocal producer
  • "Loml" and "Imgonnagetyouback" are stylized in all lowercase.
  • "Thank You Aimee" is stylized as "thanK you aIMee".

Personnel

Musicians

  • Taylor Swift – vocals (all tracks), piano (tracks 3, 17), background vocals (17)
  • Jack Antonoff – synthesizer (tracks 1–4, 6–11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 25), programming (1–4, 6–11, 15, 17, 18, 24, 25), drums (1, 3, 4, 7–10, 13, 15, 17, 18, 24), electric guitar (1, 3, 6–11, 15, 17, 24), acoustic guitar (1, 6–9, 11, 17, 18, 25), piano (2, 4, 8, 10, 13, 17, 18), cello (2, 6, 8, 10, 15, 17, 24, 25), background vocals (2, 6, 15, 24), bass (3, 6, 8–11, 17), percussion (4, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 24), Mellotron (6, 8, 10, 11, 17), organ (7), Rhodes (17), keyboards (18)
  • Sean Hutchinson – drums (1, 6, 10, 15, 17), percussion (4)
  • Post Malone – vocals (track 1)
  • Mikey Freedom Hart – acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, Hammond B3 (track 2); Mellotron (3), synthesizer (4, 6, 10), percussion (10)
  • Evan Smith – synthesizer (tracks 2, 6, 10), saxophone (4)
  • Zem Audu – synthesizer (tracks 2, 6, 10), saxophone (4)
  • Michael Riddleberger – drums (track 2), percussion (10)
  • Aaron Dessner – piano (tracks 5, 10, 12, 16, 19–23, 26–31), synthesizer (5, 12, 14, 16, 19–24, 26–28, 30, 31), drum programming (5, 14, 16, 19–24, 26, 28–30), electric guitar (5, 14, 19–23, 26, 27, 29, 30), acoustic guitar (6, 19, 20, 23, 24, 26, 29), keyboards (12, 19–22, 24, 26–28, 30), bass (14, 16, 20, 22, 28–30), percussion (16, 19, 20, 22–24, 26, 27, 29, 30), mandolin (20, 23, 24), synth bass (21, 22, 24, 27, 31), banjo (23, 24), drums (30)
  • Benjamin Lanz – synthesizer (tracks 5, 19–23, 27, 30), trombone (20, 22, 27), sequencer (22)
  • Bobby Hawk – strings (tracks 6, 9, 17)
  • Emily Jean Stone – oddities (track 8)
  • Florence Welch – vocals, drums, percussion, piano (track 8)
  • Glenn Kotche – drums, percussion (tracks 12, 16, 19–21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30); snare drum, vibraphone (27)
  • Oli Jacobs – background vocals, percussion, spoken word (track 13)
  • James McAlister – synthesizer (tracks 14, 16, 21–23, 26, 27, 30), percussion (14, 16, 23, 26, 27, 29, 30), drums (14, 21, 22), electric guitar (14, 22), keyboards (16, 21, 26, 27), drum programming (19, 22, 26, 27, 31); acoustic guitar, synth bass (23); zither (26)
  • Rob Moose – viola, violin (tracks 14, 20)
  • Jason Slota – percussion (track 14)
  • Abi Hyde-Smith – cello (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Brian O'Kane – cello (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Max Ruisi – cello (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Reinoud Ford – cello (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Robert Ames – conductor (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Chris Kelly – double bass (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Dave Brown – double bass (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Sophie Roper – double bass (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Elisa Bergersen – viola (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Matthew Kettle – viola (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Morgan Goff – viola (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Nicholas Bootiman – viola (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Akiko Ishikawa – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Cara Laskaris – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Iona Allan – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Kirsty Mangan – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Nicole Crespo O'Donoghue – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Ronald Long – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Sophie Mather – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Dan Oates – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30)
  • Eloisa-Fleur Thorn – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30)
  • Emily Holland – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30)
  • Anna de Bruin – violin (tracks 16, 19, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Galya Bisengalieva – violin (tracks 16, 19, 21, 24, 26, 30)
  • Agata Daraskaite – violin (tracks 16, 19, 26, 27, 30)
  • Julian Azkoul – violin (tracks 16, 19, 26, 27, 30)
  • Amy Swain – viola (tracks 16, 19, 26, 27, 30)
  • J.T. Bates – drums (tracks 16, 20, 21, 26)
  • Thomas Barlett – synthesizer (tracks 16, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29–31); keyboards, piano (16, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30)
  • Marianne Haynes – violin (tracks 16, 21, 23, 24, 29–31)
  • Jack Manning – piano (track 18)
  • George Barton – percussion (tracks 19, 23, 24, 26, 27, 31), timpani (30)
  • David McQueen – French horn (tracks 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Alicia Berendse – violin (tracks 21, 24, 29–31)
  • Meghan Cassidy – viola (tracks 23, 29, 31)
  • Natasha Humphries – violin (tracks 23, 29, 31)
  • Jonathan Farey – French horn (tracks 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Paul Cott – French horn (tracks 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Patrik Berger – acoustic guitar (track 25)
  • Max Welford – bass clarinet (tracks 26, 29)
  • Vicky Lester – harp (track 30)
  • Bryce Dessner – drum programming, piano, synthesizer (track 31)

Technical

  • Randy Merrill – mastering
  • Ryan Smith – mastering
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing
  • Bryce Bordone – mix engineering
  • Laura Sisk – engineering (tracks 1–4, 6–11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 24, 25), vocal engineering (7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15)
  • Oli Jacobs – engineering (tracks 1–4, 6–11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 24, 25)
  • Sean Hutchinson – engineering (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 15, 17)
  • Michael Riddleberger – engineering (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 17)
  • David Hart – engineering (tracks 2, 6, 10)
  • Evan Smith – engineering (tracks 2, 6, 10)
  • Mikey Freedom Hart – engineering (tracks 2, 6, 10)
  • Zem Audu – engineering (tracks 2, 6, 10)
  • Bella Blasko – engineering (tracks 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 27, 28, 31), additional engineering (16, 19–24, 26, 29, 30)
  • Jonathan Low – engineering (tracks 5, 6, 10, 11, 16, 19–24, 26–30)
  • Aaron Dessner – engineering (tracks 5, 14)
  • Benjamin Lanz – engineering (tracks 5, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30)
  • Ben Loveland – engineering (track 8)
  • Joey Miller – engineering (track 10), engineering assistance (13)
  • James McAlister – engineering (tracks 14, 16, 19, 21–23, 26, 27, 29, 30)
  • Rob Moose – engineering, recording arrangement (track 14)
  • Jeremy Murphy – engineering (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30)
  • Thomas Bartlett – engineering (tracks 16, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30)
  • Maryam Qudus – engineering (tracks 20, 23, 24, 30)
  • Jack Antonoff – engineering (track 24)
  • Pat Burns – engineering (track 27)
  • Louis Bell – vocal engineering (track 1)
  • Christopher Rowe – vocal engineering (tracks 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 20)
  • Beau Sorenson – additional engineering (track 14)
  • Bryce Dessner – recording arrangement (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29–31)
  • Jack Manning – engineering assistance (tracks 1–4, 6–11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 25)
  • Jon Sher – engineering assistance (tracks 1–4, 6–11, 13, 15 17, 18, 25)
  • Lauren Marquez – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 13)
  • Jesse Snider – engineering assistance (tracks 7, 8, 10)
  • Joe Caldwell – engineering assistance (tracks 10, 13, 18, 24)
  • Rḗmy Dumelz – engineering assistance (track 11)
  • Laura Beck – engineering assistance (tracks 16, 19, 21, 23–27, 29–31)

Release history

The Tortured Poets Department release history
Region Date Format(s) Edition(s) Label Ref.
Various April 19, 2024
  • Standard
 Republic [79]
CD
  • Collector's deluxe
  • Digital download
  • streaming
 The Anthology [80]
United States
  • CD
  • vinyl LP
[81][82]
Japan April 20, 2024 CD
  • Standard
  • Japan deluxe
 Universal Japan [83]

Notes

  1. ^ As discussed by Variety's Chris Willman,[22] NME's Laura Molloy,[23] and The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick[24]
  2. ^ Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph rated the standard edition and The Anthology volume each with a 4/5 rating.[24]
  3. ^ Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone rated the standard edition 5/5[68] and The Anthology volume 4/5.[32]

References

  1. ^ Bugel, Safi (October 28, 2022). "Taylor Swift: Midnights becomes biggest album of 2022 after one week". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on November 23, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  2. ^ Wickman, Kase (February 4, 2024). "Taylor Swift Arrives at the Grammys 2024". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on February 5, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
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  79. ^ The Tortured Poets Department release formats:
  80. ^ Zemler, Emily (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift Unveils Double Album 'The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  81. ^ Tingley, Anna (March 12, 2024). "Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets Department' Gets Target-Exclusive Phantom Clear Vinyl, Including 24-Page Jacket and Rare Photos". Variety. Archived from the original on March 16, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  82. ^ "Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department + Bonus Track "The Albatross" (Target Exclusive, CD)". Target Corporation. Archived from the original on April 14, 2024. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  83. ^ "ニューアルバム国内盤『ザ・トーチャード・ポエッツ・デパートメント』の先着特典が決定! (追記3/21) ＜通常盤＞購入特典「ポストカード」の店別デザイン決定!" (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan. March 18, 2024. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
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