Highlights
- Taylor Swift is releasing four new songs as part of The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore
- The singer had previously suggested she was happy with the original 12-track album
- Fans had already spotted clues pointing toward an “Encore” release
Taylor Swift is adding a new chapter to The Life of a Showgirl after previously making it clear that she was happy with the album as it was.
The singer announced The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore on Wednesday, revealing four new songs that will be released Friday.
The expanded edition adds “Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon” to the original 12 tracks. Swift said the new songs came together unexpectedly after she traveled to Sweden with collaborators Max Martin and Shellback to celebrate the success of the album.
Why did Taylor Swift change her mind about the album?
Swift had previously indicated that The Life of a Showgirl would remain a 12-song album.
Rather than adding songs that had been left off the original project, she said she was satisfied with the final tracklist.
That changed after the album was released. Swift explained that she and Martin and Shellback went to a studio in Sweden while celebrating the album's success. The studio session eventually turned into new music.
“We wrote more songs,” Swift said, describing the tracks as being created out of gratitude for the response to the album.
The four songs will now become tracks 13 through 16 on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore.
Did Taylor Swift secretly tease the ‘Encore’ release?
Swifties had already noticed clues suggesting that something new was coming.
One appeared in the music video for “Opalite,” where the words “Patient for the encore” were visible in the frame.
Another clue appeared during a pre-recorded sketch that aired as part of the Emmys telecast. Swift appeared as a detective in a Law & Order: SVU-inspired segment and said, “I think what we’re going to be looking for is hiding in plain sight.”
She then delivered several seemingly unrelated phrases. Fans later worked out that taking the third letter from each phrase produced the word “encore.” The clues now appear to have been pointing toward the expanded Showgirl project.
What are the four new Taylor Swift songs?
The new edition includes four tracks:
- “Patient Zero”
- “Cleveland!”
- “Pink Clouding”
- “Babylon”
The songs were written after the original album was completed, rather than being tracks Swift had previously discarded.
The project reunites Swift with Max Martin and Shellback, who previously worked with her on songs including “...Ready for It?”, “I Did Something Bad” and “Delicate” from Reputation.
The expanded album will be released digitally Friday. No physical edition has been announced yet. The surprise release also puts to rest some recent speculation that Swift would announce Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) this fall to mark the 20th anniversary of her debut album.
For now, Swift is extending the Showgirl era instead, giving an album she once considered complete four more songs.
