Taylor Swift appeared on the New Heights podcast and revealed the release date for her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Show Girl.”
Swift’s episode of the podcast, which is hosted by her boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, and his brother, former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, premiered on Wednesday night.
As of this writing, the podcast has more than 11.5 million views on YouTube.
In the episode, Swift revealed the cover artwork, track list, and more about the new album, which features 12 songs and will be released on Oct. 3, 2025.
Throughout the two-hour-long podcast, Swift also discussed a range of topics, including re-recording her music, reclaiming her masters, writing “The Life of a Showgirl,” football, baking and more.
Here are 12 things Taylor revealed during the podcast that I noted down while listening to it:
Easter eggs for ‘The Life of a Showgirl’
Swift, who is known for leaving hints, or “Easter eggs” for her fans, revealed that she started hinting at this new album during The Era’s Tour.
As each show of the tour ended, Swift would go down an elevator lift to exit the stage, but on the very last night of the tour, she left the stage via an orange door.
“That actually was an Easter egg,” Swift said in the podcast. “Basically, the reason why I chose to exit that way is because I kind of wanted to give a little subliminal hint to the fans that I may be leaving The Era’s Tour era, but I was also entering a new era.”
Swift said that Easter eggs will never tie back to her personal life, and they always point toward her music.
In another example, Swift said there were several Easter eggs for her “Midnights” album in her commencement speech at NYU in 2022.
Writing the new album
Swift said she wrote “The Life of the Showgirl” while she was in Europe for The Era’s Tour, and recorded it while in Sweden.
Collaborating with Max Martin and Shellback
Swift produced the album with Max Martin and Shellback. Swift said that she and the Swedish producers have collaborated on some of her favorite songs she’s ever released, including “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “22,” “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Style,” “Wildest Dreams,” “Ready For It,” and “Delicate.”
It’s the first time that the three of them have made an album together with no other collaborators. Swift said it’s also the first time they’ve worked together in seven or eight years.
This also marks Swift’s first album in a while that doesn’t include longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff.
Significance of the color orange
When Jason asked Swift about the significance of the color orange, she explained that she has always really like the color and said, “It feels like kind of energetically how my life has felt, and this album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour which was so exuberant, electric and vibrant.”
Theme and artwork for the new album
When asked about the theme of the album, Swift said, “Everything that was going on behind the curtain.”
She said the album is about what was going on in her personal life during The Era’s Tour.
“The album isn’t really about what happened to me on stage, it’s about what I was going through off-stage.”
The artwork, which features Swift submerged in water, represents how, when she was on tour, every night ended with her in a bathtub.
Main goals for the album
Swift said her music reflects what’s going on in her life, and said “Life is more upbeat” when noting the differences between this album and “The Tortured Poets Department.”
“This album is going to make you dance,” said Travis, who has heard all 12 songs.
When talking about her goals for this album, Swift said “melodies that were so infectious that you’re almost angry” and lyrics that are ”vivid, but crisp and focused and completely intentional.”
Regaining control of her songs’ masters
Swift said she had been saving up to buy her master’s since she was a teenager, and explained that they had been sold multiple times over the years, including to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca holdings.
This motivated Swift to re-record her catalog of music, which also led to her going on The Era’s Tour.
Once the tour was over, Swift and her team decided that it was a good time to approach Shamrock Capitol about purchasing her masters.
Swift revealed that rather than sending lawyers or management to the meeting, she sent her mom and her brother, who she works with, to sit down with Shamrock Capital.
They told the private equity firm about what buying her master’s meant to Swift, and told them about all the times Swift had tried to buy them and all the times those deals had fallen through.
Afterward, Swift said that her mom called her and said Shamrock Capital had heard them out, but that she had no idea what decision they’d make.
Then, a couple of months after the Super Bowl, she got a call from her mom who said, “You got your music.”
In a note posted to her website in May, Swift announced to fans that she had regained control of her entire body of work.
Re-recording her music -- i.e., (Taylor’s Version)
Taylor Swift said most people in the industry said that re-recording her music was a bad idea, and that no one was interested in hearing the same music twice.
She said her loyal fan base was the reason the re-records worked out. The singer said her fans were also the reason she was able to purchase her music back, because they attended The Era’s Tour.
When Jason asked which version people should be listening to, Swift said she thinks a lot of the vocals she did on the re-records are better, but understands some songs are nostalgic for people, so she says fans should listen to whatever they want.
Parents’ health
Swift gave an update about how her parents, Andrea and Scott, are doing on the podcast. She said her dad had a quintuple bypass surgery over the summer. She explained the intense surgery and how they spent a lot of time with him during his recovery. She said he’s doing great now.
Her mom also got a new knee.
“We’re just upgrading the parents, making sure they live to be at least 186 years old,” said Swift. “Because they’re two of my best friends and I just adore them.”
Football knowledge, Jared Goff mention
Before dating Travis, Swift said she didn’t really know anything about the football world.
“Jason, on our first date, I literally, I legitimately asked him what it was like when the Chiefs played the Eagles in the Super Bowl, and he looked across the field across the line of scrimmage and saw his brother standing...like five feet in front of him on the field,” Swift said.
“I now know what an insane question that was,” Swift said as she revealed that she thought everyone was on the field at the same time.
“I thought it was like Jared Goff is here and Josh Allen’s here and they’re going to be like, they blow a whistle and then they go at each other and they’re like errrrr,” said Swift. “And it’s like, who’s going to win?”
Jason responded and said, “I would love to see Jared Goff play some defense. Let’s see Jared Goff on defense.”
Related: Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff reacts to Taylor Swift name-dropping him on ‘New Heights’ podcast
Sourdough baking
“I have a new baking obsession every six months,” Swift said when talking about her hobbies.
And right now, she said she’s “deep in a sourdough obsession.”
“Oh, I’m on your blog, girl,” Swift added when talking about the sourdough community online.
Swift wasn’t in ‘Happy Gilmore 2′
Swift also denied allegations that she was in “Happy Gilmore 2,” the sequel to the 1996 film.
A fan theory claimed that Swift was the one in the bear costume in the scene Travis appeared in, but Swift said that wasn’t true and that she was not in the movie.
However, she did compliment Bad Bunny’s acting in the movie.
“He absolutely delighted me in that movie,” Swift said.
“His comedic timing is so good,” Swift added as she talked about one of her favorite scenes with Bad Bunny. “His character name is Oscar, and it’s like, his brother gets hit by the golf ball … There’s a face that Bad Bunny makes, and they do the kind of pan or zoom. I was like, ‘Who thought of that? How did they know he could be that way?’”
To watch the entire podcast, visit here.