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Taylor Swift’s 2am Surprise Is a Secret Double Album of ‘Tortured Poets’: Stream It Now

The final, sprawling edition comes in at 31 songs, and more than two hours of playing time.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Beth Garrabrant

Surprise! Taylor Swift gave night owls a bonus when she dropped the secret, second part of The Tortured Poets Department.

Swift had teased a mysterious 2am countdown ahead of the conventional midnight release of Tortured Poets. For Swifties, it was worth the wait as the collection extended by an additional 15 songs.


“It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album,” writes Swift on Instagram. “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 of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.”

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The final, sprawling edition comes in at 31 songs, and more than two hours of playing time.

If three is the magic number, two is a godsend for Swifties, many of whom have noticed that their idol has been waving the number 2 in their faces for weeks. Her Tortured Poets Spotify library installation in Los Angeles featured a peace-sign statuette, and Swift herself flashed two fingers on camera at the 2024 Grammys when she first announced her new record. The clocks at the library pop-up and in her cryptic “Fortnight” music video announcement from earlier this week have all been set to 2 o’clock, and the star tweeted Wednesday, “✌️days til THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT.”

Swift’s stamina is hard to beat. Tortured Poets is her fifth studio album in less than five years, a period that has also included four re-recorded Taylor’s Version albums. So, make that nine full length recordings since the months prior to the pandemic. Her epic The Eras Tour is currently on a break, and will restart next month for a summer stadium run across the U.K. and Europe.

TayTay announced The Tortured Poets Department at the 2024 Grammy Awards in February, where she won album of the year for a record fourth time, with Midnights, her 10th studio effort. In the same month, Swift collected the IFPI’s Global Recording Artist award for a fourth time, also a record.

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Stream The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology in full below.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

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Drummer Frank Beard of American rock band ZZ Top at their concert in Munich, Germany 1986.
Fryderyk Gabowicz/picture alliance/Getty Images

Drummer Frank Beard of American rock band ZZ Top at their concert in Munich, Germany 1986.

FYI

Obituaries: Tributes to ZZ Top's Frank Beard, Actor/Singer Hayden Panettiere

This week we also acknowledge the passing of Hall of Fame blues/R&B singer Latimore and legendary Australian music industry veteran Johnny Young.

Frank Lee Beard, drummer with Texan rock greats ZZ Top for 56 years, died on Aug. 17, at age 77.

A press release from longtime band publicist Bob Merlis confirmed his passing, stating that Beard was “in hospice care when he passed away at his ranch in Richmond, TX with family members at his side.”

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