LIFE IS MORE UPBEAT

Taylor Swift is no stranger to a quick turnaround - this is the woman who once released sister albums Folklore and Evermore within five months of each other.

- • By Olivia Harrowell

Still, her latest pivot feels welcomingly brisk.

Less than two years after sprawling heartbreak epic The Tortured Poets Department, she pulled back the curtain on album number 12: The Life of a Showgirl. And if her own words are anything to go by, life is about to sound a whole lot brighter when it drops this week.

Swift was a guest on New Heights - the podcast hosted by her new fiancé, Travis Kelce, and his brother, Jason - in August, when she made the announcement that quickly crashed all corners of the internet, confirming the album would arrive on October 3.

To the surprise of everyone, she revealed that The Life of a Showgirl was largely recorded during her hugely successful The Eras Tour, often squeezed in between European dates.

"This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant," she told the hosts.