Taylor Swift‘s The Life of a Showgirl has immediately become the most-anticipated album for the rest of 2025, and based on details she shared Wednesday on a special episode of New Heights with Travis and Jason Kelce, her 12th album could be her most pop-leaning record in years.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to hear every single song on here, so I know they’re all 12 bangers,” her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, said of the album, which Swift revealed would come out Oct. 3. “It’s a lot more upbeat and it’s a lot more like, fun pop excitement. I think it’s a complete 180 from a lot of the songs on Tortured Poets for sure.”
“Life is more upbeat,” Swift added. “I have different goals with different albums. Tortured Poets Department, my goals were strictly lyrical. It was really a full catharsis, and I love to embrace the mess of writing from that perspective, of the rawness of that. I was feeling a complete pivot at this point in time, and I want the album to feel the way my life felt. And this completely matches the way my life has felt.”
Regarding the goals of Life of a Showgirl, Swift said she was going for “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.”
“It’s the life behind it all, it’s the life beyond the show,” Swift said.
Further feeding that pop sound is that Swift tapped legendary hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback to make the record with her. The Swedish producers worked with Swift on some of her biggest songs like “Blank Space,” “22,” “Shake It Off” and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” among others. Martin is regarded as perhaps the biggest pop songwriter of all time, with credits on chart-topping classics like Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time,” NSYNC’s “It’s Gonna Be Me” and Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” among many others. Among his more recent smashes are The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” Coldplay and BTS’s “My Universe” and Ariana Grande’s “Yes, And?”
Before The Life of a Showgirl, Swift, Shellback and Martin had last worked together on a new album back in 2017 for Reputation.
“Shellback and I were both in our early twenties when we started working together, the three of us. And so it was very much like we were the ingenues and Max was the mentor,” Swift said. “And this was the time where it felt like all three of us in the room were carrying the same weight as creators. It was really special. It meant the world to me to have this creative experience where we knew we had to bring the best ideas we’ve ever had. 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.”
During the podcast, Swift also revealed the track list for the record, confirming a feature from Sabrina Carpenter.
Beyond the new music, Swift had a revealing two-hour conversation on New Heights, recalling the early days of dating Kelce and the emotional process of gaining ownership of her masters earlier this year.
“I was bawling my eyes out, I’m just like weeping like, ‘Really? What do you mean? This changed my life, I can’t believe it still,” Swift said, remembering when she got the call from her mother confirming the deal.
Regarding the early days with Kelce, Swift said, “This felt more like I was in an ‘80s John Hughes movie and he was just like, standing outside of my window with a boombox.”
She added, “I was like, ‘If this guy isn’t crazy, this is sort of what I’ve been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager.’”