WhenTaylor Swiftannounced her twelfth studio album,The Life of a Showgirl, fans were — of course — excited. It marked the beginning of a new era. Swifties are yet again hunting for Easter eggs, hoping to uncover hints and clues related to the upcoming record. The singer-songwriter, after all, likes to keep her fans guessing. But one part of the announcement sparked mixed reactions: the album cover. The main artwork for TS12, photographed byMert AlasandMarcus Piggott, features Swift in a bathtub while clad in a “bejeweled” dress, a striking image for some, yet one that didn’t quite resonate with many fans. Some argued she could have chosen a different photo from the shoot (later revealed as alternate vinyl covers), which they felt were stronger representations of the era. So why did she choose that particular image as the official album cover?
Perhaps the most provocative era in her career,The Life of a Showgirlsparked great anticipation among fans. The aesthetic for the upcoming album is a far cry from Swift’s earlier work, which leaned into a more alternative sound with sister albumsFolkloreandEvermore, as well as the extensive 31-trackThe Tortured Poets Department. ForThe Life of a Showgirl, Swift will be embracing the pop genre yet again, pivoting back to her1989era, albeit a bit more upbeat and with a “lot more fun pop excitement,” according to her beau,Travis Kelce. However, despite the excitement, fans were somewhat divided over the album cover. Funnily enough, a few even joked that the chosen image would have landed Swift in the bottom two ofAmerica’s Next Top Model. And with Swift’s photo lacking neck extension and perhaps a story in her eyes, they might have a point. But this is Taylor Swift — and she would never put out anything without a story behind it.
Taylor Swift Captures Life Off-Camera Through ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Album Cover
During her appearance on Kelce’s podcastNew Heights, where she announced the arrival of her new album, Swift explained that the cover represents “the end of [her] night” — the moment when the lights go down after her critically acclaimedEras Tourset. “So when I’m on tour, I have the same day every single day. And my day ends with me in a bathtub, not usually in a bedazzled dress…I wanted to sort of like glamorize all the different aspects of how that tour felt. And that’s how that felt to like be at the end of the night when all this has gone down. You won’t be able to get to bed till four in the morning after this. But you had to jump through 50 million hoops in this obstacle course that is your show. And you did it. You got two more in a row. But you did it tonight.“
Swifties know every creative decision the singer makes has a reason. And the reason behind the cover was to emphasize it wasn’t about what transpires on stage. Rather, it’s a representation of her life behind the camera. She added: “And the reason I wanted to have sort of like an offstage moment as the main album cover is because this album isn’t really about what happened to me on stage. It’s about what I was going through offstage. So I didn’t want to have like the lights are bright, I’m on the stage as the main album cover. It’s just this. This, to me, tells more of what the actual content, lyrically, of the album are.”
What to Expect From Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’
As mentioned, Swift — who has been exploring indie and alternative sounds in recent years — will be returning to her pop roots. Swift collaborated with herRed,1989, andReputationcollaborators,Max MartinandShellback, forThe Life of a Showgirl. It marked her first album in years withoutJack AntonoffandAaron Dessneras her album’s producers. The album will feature a total of 12 tracks, with the title track featuringSabrina Carpenter; the “Manchild” singer previously opened for Swift forThe Eras Tour. Check out the tracklist below:
The Life of a Showgirlis set for release on Friday, October 3.
