By MARIA SHERMAN (AP Music Writer)
NEW YORK (AP) — Could there be a Taylor Swift new album rollout without a few additional surprises?
No.
On Friday, the pop star put out her 11th album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” a mix of her previous work and showcasing the artist who — at the height of her powers — has spent the last few years re-recording her life’s work and performing its material, infused with synth-pop anthems, breakup ballads, provocative, and mature considerations.
But that was midnight. At 2 a.m. Eastern, she released “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology,” which includes 15 extra songs.
“I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment,” Swift wrote in an Instagram caption. “And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.”
The songs are a natural extension of the first part of the album; many revert to her “evermore” and “folklore” sound, with help from her collaborator Aaron Dessner.
This isn't the first time Swift has surprised her fans, and definitely not her first time doing so with a surprise album release. A few months after “folklore” was released in 2020, she announced “evermore” would arrive at the midnight the same day. And speaking of midnight, she dropped a “3am” edition of “Midnights” containing seven new tracks in 2022 a few hours after the original release.
