When Taylor Swift was gearing up for the final leg of her “Eras Tour,” many of us — along with the rest of the Swiftie universe — were sure a “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” announcement was coming.
But now, fans think she may have revealed exactly when to expect new music in the most Swift way possible: with her cat.
On Oct. 18, 2024, Swift posted a video of herself walking into Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium with her feline sidekick Olivia Benson. She stops in front of section A12, flashes a grin at the camera and keeps walking. Fast-forward to just after midnight on Aug. 12, when Swift announced her next album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” was on its way.
If Swift fans weren’t already freaking out Wednesday, Aug. 13, Swift’s website countdown has sent them into a frenzy. And she’s seemingly fueling the flames.
After launching the countdown, which originally just featured the famous orange door, Swift seemingly added another detail to her website. In the corner of the page, there’s a glittery orange box with a lock on it. Zooming in, the lock’s keyhole has a peculiar shape — a rectangle at the top, followed by a thin line, broken up by a diamond.
Some fans think it’s a reference to Swift’s “Eras Tour,” which kicked off in March 2023 and officially ended in December 2024. The stage for the tour had a similar unique shape.
It wouldn’t be the first time she connected her musical work to her mega “Eras Tour.” Her 11th album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” dropped in the middle of the tour, and one song, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” referenced her experience on the tour performing for fans nightly amid heartbreak.
We know, we know — Taylor Swift only wrapped up her multi-year “Eras Tour” eight months ago, and her last album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” dropped just over a year ago in April 2024. But the breadcrumbs for this new project have been falling since March 2023 (and possibly even earlier — don’t come for me, Swifties), when the pop star kicked off her iconic tour in Arizona.
As Maddie noted below, when she would sing her final song in the 44-plus-track performance, an orange door could be seen descending from the screen behind her show after show. Fans began speculating then that the door had something to do with a new album. And now, more than two years later, we have our answer in “The Life of a Showgirl.”
Before Taylor Swift announced her 12th album, the Empire State Building lit up orange in support.
“See you next era,” the historic building’s official account wrote on X Monday afternoon.
Swift is a longtime New Yorker, with her fifth album, “1989,” effectively serving as a love letter to moving to the city. The Empire State Building has also established itself as a devoted fan of Swift’s. (In December 2023, for example, the top of the building lit up all the colors of the singer’s many “eras” in honor of her birthday.)
But this time, another notable building joined in on the fun. Shortly before the album announcement, Kansas City’s Union Station — the city’s primary train station and home to several attractions and museum exhibits — also lit up its exterior in bright orange.
“In our “ready for a new era” era,” the station’s X account said.
There’s no rest for Taylor Swift fans.
Just days after shocking fans with a countdown on her website resulting in the announcement of her 12th album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” Swift launched a second countdown Wednesday afternoon. The timer is set to expire at 7 p.m. ET on Aug. 13, the date her podcasting debut, an appearance on the Kelce brothers’ “New Heights,” will drop online.
For the uninitiated, a website countdown is a classic Swift maneuver, often drumming up immediate speculation and plenty of fan fervor. While we know a new album is on the way, we are still awaiting details on the album’s official release date and cover art. And while Swift hinted via a playlist titled, “And, baby, that’s show business for you,” that her new era could mark a return to her pop roots (think: “22” and “Gorgeous”), fans have yet to hear a note from the new album.
