9 things Taylor Swift revealed about “The Life of a Showgirl” on “New Heights” podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce

Taylor Swift gave fans a lot to look forward to after she appeared on “New Heights,” the podcast hosted by her boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs star, Travis Kelce, and his brother, former Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce, Wednesday night. 

Swift used the podcast episode to announce her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” which she was working on during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour in 2024.

“This is the record I’ve been wanting to make for a very long time,” Swift said. 

Here are more details Swift shared about the upcoming album:

“The Life of a Showgirl” release date

The album will be released on Friday, Oct. 3. Fans of Swift know the dates she chooses to announce and release music almost always have meaning and often have a 13, her lucky number, somewhere. 

“Never not annoying,” she said about herself on the podcast. “Always going to try to force a 13 into the situation and this one was right there.”

Swift, Max Martin and Shellback produced the album 

Swift made “The Life of a Showgirl” with Max Martin and Shellback, producers she has worked with in the past but never for the entirety of an album. 

“The three of us have made some of my favorite songs that I’ve ever done before,” Swift said. Those songs include “22,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Blank Space,” “Style,” “Shake It Off,” “…Ready For It?” and “Delicate.”

The three hadn’t produced music together in seven or eight years, but returning to work with them “felt like catching lightning in a bottle,” Swift said.

“By the time we came back together, I feel like we had so much more dexterity to what we do,” she said. “This was the time where it felt like all three of us in the room were carrying the same weight as creators and it was really special.”

Martin and Shellback have also worked with pop artists like Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, P!nk and more.

“The best ideas we’ve ever had”

Swift said she approached Martin, who she described as her mentor, about doing an album at her Eras Tour show in Stockholm in May 2024.

“I essentially said to him, ‘I want to be as proud of an album as I am of the Eras Tour and for the same reasons,’ and he was like, ‘Do you understand what kind of pressure that is?'” Swift said. 

But Swift is confident in the outcome. 

“We knew that we had to bring the best ideas we’ve ever had, and I also know the pressure I’m putting on this record by saying that, but I don’t care because I love it that much, and I’m so proud of it, and it just comes from like the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life, and so that effervescence has come through on this record,” she said. 

“The Life of a Showgirl” theme

Swift described the theme of “The Life of a Showgirl” as “everything that was going on behind the curtain” during the Eras Tour. 

Asked by Jason Kelce why she chose orange for the color scheme of the album, Swift said, “I’ve just always liked it, Jason.”

“It feels like kind of energetically how my life has felt, and 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,” she said. 

There are 12 songs on the album

Swift shared the titles of the 12 tracks on the album: “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Opalite,” “Father Figure,” “Eldest Daughter,” “Ruin The Friendship,” “Actually Romantic,” “Wi$h Li$t,” “Wood,” “Cancelled!,” “Honey” and “The Life of a Showgirl (Feat. Sabrina Carpenter).”

The pop star added that there are no additional songs, a departure from past albums. Her most recent release, “The Tortured Poets Department,” had 31 songs. 

“Every single song is on this album for hundreds of reasons. … It’s just right,” she said. “That focus and that kind of discipline with creating an album and keeping the bar really high is something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time.

“I tend to love to write lots and lots of music, so it’s a temptation to release lots of music. I wanted to do an album that was so focused on quality and on the theme and everything fitting together like a perfect puzzle.”

Melodies and lyrics were key goals

Swift opened up about the primary objectives she had making “The Life of a Showgirl.”

“My main goals were melodies that were so infectious that you’re almost angry at it and lyrics that are just as vivid but crisp and focused and completely intentional,” she said

Martin had made a point to tell Swift he didn’t want her to leave behind the type of writing and storytelling she did on “folklore” (released in July 2020) even if the sound of this album was different. Swift said she replied, “I couldn’t if I tried.”

“So it was really amazing that we were able to, without doing too much overthinking, we were able to get in there and it was just ideas flying and all of these ideas were like, we’ve been waiting years to come back together and make this project.”

The album art 

The cover of “The Life of a Showgirl” is a layered picture of Swift submerged in water.

“This represents the end of my night,” she explained. “When I’m on tour, I have the same day every single day … and my day ends with me in a bathtub.”

Swift wanted the cover to show something off-stage to represent the theme of the album.

“This album isn’t really about what happened to me on stage, it’s about what I was going through off-stage,” she said. “It’s the life beyond the show.”

The images were captured by photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, who Swift previously worked with for the album art for her sixth studio album, “Reputation.”

“I loved what they did with those photos, so I called them up for this one, and I’m so happy with the way that the photos came out for this one,” she said. 

The album was recorded in Sweden during the Eras Tour

Swift traveled to Sweden on her off days while touring Europe during the Eras Tour to work on the album.

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

“This album is going to make you dance”

Some additional details about “The Life of a Showgirl” came from Travis Kelce, who revealed he has heard the whole album. 

“I know they’re all 12 bangers,” he said. “It’s a lot more upbeat, and it’s a lot more like fun pop like excitement. … I think it’s a complete 180 from a lot of the songs on ‘Tortured Poets’ for sure.”

Swift confirmed that was a good way to describe the album, adding, “Life is more upbeat.”

Travis later told Jason, “you are going to move.”

“This album is going to make you dance,” he said.