On April 19 at midnight, pop superstar Taylor Swift is dropping her 11th studio album. The Tortured Poets Department includes fifteen songs as well as three bonus tracks, and promises of a music video released at 8 p.m. on Friday evening. As fans begin to speculate the star’s famous “easter eggs” as well as lyrical meanings, here is a detailed guide to all you need to know before listening to the new album.

Why is this album such a big deal? First things first, Taylor was in the middle of launching her re-recordings for her first six albums. Scooter Braun sold her masters, or the rights to all of her previous work, without her knowledge, and without a public sale. Fans speculated that, after the popular release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), that Reputation (Taylor’s Version) would be the next album.

However, in a spontaneous announcement during a Grammy’s acceptance speech, Swift announced her brand new album, disrupting the status quo of steady-streamed re-recordings. This is not the first time that she has done this; her last studio album that won Album of the Year at the Grammys, Midnights, was also announced seemingly out of the blue in the middle of re-recordings. The Grammy win for Midnights makes Swift the only artist to ever win Album of the Year four times. So, many fans expect similar success from another surprise album drop in the midst of re-recordings.

Another crucial piece of lore behind this album is the pop-culture history between Taylor Swift and long-term boyfriend (rumored fiancé) Joe Alwyn. The British actor inspired almost all love ballads on Reputation, the romantic album Lover, and arguably some of Taylor’s most romantic and lovesick songs to date. With a six-year long relationship and lyrics like “I like shiny things/but I would marry you with paper rings” (Paper rings, lover), many fans considered this to be Taylor’s “end-game” (she even wrote a song about him titled endgame). In Taylor’s 2020 Miss Americana documentary, Joe Alwyn plays a crucial part, in which Swift shares clips of the two of them, describing the way that they were able to keep their relationship private despite her fame. Additionally, Joe even is credited on Swift’s Grammy winning album Folklore, which he helped write under the pseudonym William Bowery, linking the two through one of her most successful albums.

In Spring of 2023, Swift and Alwyn’s split was announced, shocking many fans. There then began the debate; how long had they been broken up? And, was Midnights a breakup album in disguise? That is a debate for another time. It is clear, without having listened to a single note, that The Tortured Poets Department is in fact a break-up album.

And let’s begin with the obvious. Track five, Swift’s famously most heartbreaking ballads (“All Too Well,” “The Archer,” etc.) is called “So Long, London,” and is 9 minutes and 28 seconds long. This song references her previous song “London Boy,” a whimsical love letter to Alwyn and his life in London on the Lover album. This song through title alone clearly references her past relationship, and the sheer length of the song indicates “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version)” level of lyrical devastation.

And “So Long, London” is just the tip of the bitter break-up iceberg; songs like “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” and “The Smallest Man to Ever Live” promise Swift’s patented scathing lyrical abilities.

And for those of you who don’t care about her love life, there are also plenty of seemingly introspective songs to fill that “The Archer” and “This is Me Trying” hole in your queue. Songs like “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” And “Clara Bow” are bound to include the thing that Swift does best; weaving her insecurities and complicated relationship with fame and sense of self into lyrical poetry.

Despite fan theories and my painstaking analysis, Taylor has always found a way to surprise us, with extra songs and genre shifts, so only she knows what Thursday night will bring.

There is so much more to say, because isn’t there always when it comes to someone who seems to produce more music and content than anyone else in the public eye. For now, enjoy your listening, and tune back in for lyrical analysis and song recommendations.