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'The Life of a Showgirl': What we know so far about Taylor Swift's new album — from the meaning behind the color orange to why she's releasing a movie

Taylor Swift sent the internet into a frenzy on Aug. 12 when she announced her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl — at exactly 12:12 a.m. ET, of course. Swift, ever the numerology lover, rarely does anything without detailed planning.

The album, which drops on Oct. 3, was first teased on her fiancé Travis Kelce’s podcast, New Heights. As Swift later pointed out: 10 (for October), plus three, equals 13 — her famously favorite number.

Since the announcement, she has unveiled multiple collectible album covers for fans and revealed plans for a behind-the-scenes film, featuring new lyric videos, that will hit theaters the same day the album drops.

Here’s everything we know so far about The Life of a Showgirl.

When does the album drop?

The Life of a Showgirl will be released on Oct. 3 at midnight and will be available on Swift’s official website and through Target.

Full track list of ‘The Life of a Showgirl’

There are 12 tracks on The Life of a Showgirl:

“The Fate of Ophelia”
“Elizabeth Taylor”
“Opalite”
“Father Figure”
“Eldest Daughter”
“Ruin the Friendship”
“Actually Romantic”
“Wi$h Li$t”
“Wood”
“CANCELLED!”
“Honey”
“The Life of a Showgirl” (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)

Swift said each song “is just right” for the album, which is why, unlike her previous albums, Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department, there will not be any additional surprise songs outside of the track list.

“The Fate of Ophelia” will be her lead single, and her music video for the song will come out on Oct. 3, as part of her theatrical event, “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl.”

What is ‘The Official Release Party of a Showgirl’ movie?

Swift announced there would be an accompanying 89-minute movie released in theaters alongside the album’s debut on Oct. 3

“You’ll get to see the exclusive world premiere of the music video for my new single ‘The Fate of Ophelia’, along with never before seen behind-the-scenes footage of how we made it, cut by cut explanations of what inspired this music, and the brand new lyric videos from my new album The Life of a Showgirl,” she wrote on Instagram.

“Dancing is optional but very much encouraged,” the singer added.

The film will screen in theaters from Oct. 3 to Oct. 5, with the first showings happening at 3 p.m. ET on Oct. 3. (Additional screenings have been added for some cities, including New York City, Boston and San Francisco.) It will play at all AMC Theatres locations nationwide, and some non-AMC locations, including Cinemark and Regal theaters.

The Official Release Party of a Showgirl will be shown internationally in 18 countries, including Mexico, the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, according to Deadline.

What can fans expect the album to sound like?

While there aren’t any available sneak peeks, Swift said that she co-wrote the album with producers Max Martin and Shellback, who worked with her on tracks including “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “22."

“We’ve never actually made an album before where it’s just the three of us,” she said on New Heights. “It felt like catching lightning in a bottle, honestly.”

She said the inspiration behind the new album “comes from like the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life.” She said the melodies are “so infectious that you’re almost angry at it” and the lyrics are “just as vivid, but crisp and focused and completely intentional.”

Kelce, who heard the album, said it was “a lot more upbeat, and it’s a lot more like fun, pop” and “a complete 180 from a lot of the songs on Tortured Poets.” Travis Kelce said in another New Heights episode that “Opalite” is his favorite song.

What is the significance of the main album cover?

Swift also revealed the album art during her appearance on New Heights. The cover was shot by fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, who also worked on her 2017 album cover, Reputation. On the cover, Swift wears a silver beaded bralette from Area’s Spring 2022 collection, according to Marie Claire.

Swift said on the podcast that the underwater cover was inspired by her nightly post-show baths on tour — “not usually in a bedazzled dress,” she joked — and the intention was to “glamorize all the different aspects of how that tour felt.”

“The reason I wanted to have sort of like an offstage moment as the main album cover is because this album isn’t really about what happened to me on stage, it’s about what I was going through offstage,” she said. “This, to me, tells more of what the actual contents, lyrically, of the album are.”

Why did she pick the color orange?

Kelce’s brother and New Heights podcast cohost Jason asked Swift about the significance of the album’s color after she showed off the orange, sparkly vinyl.

“It feels like, kind of energetically, how my life has felt,” Swift said about the color orange. “This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant.”

Swift has associated many of her previous albums with specific colors: Red was red, Reputation was black and grey and Lover was hot pink and gold. Since Swifties are familiar with the color symbolism in her albums, Swift said she knew to drop some orange “Easter eggs” ahead of her announcement, including the decision to exit through an orange door at the last show on her Eras Tour — which fans picked up on.

“The reason why I chose to exit that way is because I kind of wanted to give a little subliminal hint to the fans that I may be leaving the Eras Tour era, but I was also entering a new era,” she said on New Heights. “I was pretty proud of them for noticing that.”

When did Swift write ‘The Life of a Showgirl’?

Swift said on New Heights that she had started writing the new album when she was on the European leg of her Eras Tour throughout the spring and summer of 2023. She said she worked with Martin and Shellback between shows in Sweden.

“I’d do like three shows in a row, I’d have three days off. I’d fly to Sweden, go back to the tour and, actually, like working on this — I was physically exhausted at this point in the tour — but I was so mentally stimulated and so excited to be creating,” she said.

Why are there so many special edition album covers?

Since the initial announcement in mid-August, Swift has released seven special edition covers with unique takes on the album’s theme.

“I just wanted the fans to have as many images from this sort of world, this album era, as possible,” she said in an interview posted by the Taylor Nation team on Sept. 20. “I really spent a lot of time figuring out how I could make the best vinyl product and the best packaging and the best CD experience that they could have.”