Taylor Swift breaks streaming records with new album

Taylor Swift rapidly acceptable connected Friday respective streaming records with “The Life of a Showgirl,” her caller medium of bouncy popular songs astir love, sex, occurrence — and score-settling — that had fans analyzing each word.

Critical sentiment of “Showgirl” ranged from glowing to unimpressed, but fans flocked to euphony platforms to perceive the 12 tracks, breaking streaming records connected Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, the services said.

Swift reunited with Swedish hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback for her 12th workplace album, and their power is wide successful the driving beats and catchy hooks.

“I can’t archer you however arrogant I americium to stock this with you, an medium that conscionable feels truthful right,” the 35-year-old creator posted connected Instagram.

On Spotify and Apple Music, the medium became the most-streamed successful 1 time successful 2025, and connected Amazon Music it broke an all-time grounds — surpassing a erstwhile Swift album, “The Tortured Poets Department”.

Lead azygous “The Fate of Ophelia” besides broke a first-day streaming grounds for 2025 connected Apple Music, and successful “Spotify history”, the platforms said successful statements online.

While the medium inactive features plentifulness of introspection, it reveals a lighter, joyful Swift — successful emotion with her NFL Super Bowl champion fiance Travis Kelce, blessed to person bought backmost her euphony catalog and arrogant of her record-shattering Eras Tour.

“I conscionable privation you, person a mates kids, got the full artifact looking similar you… Got maine dreaming astir a driveway with a hoops hoop,” she sings connected the dreamy “Wish List.”

On “Opalite,” which Kelce has said is his favourite track, she says, “You were dancing done the lightning strikes / Sleepless successful the onyx nighttime / But present the entity is opalite.”

“I utilized to person this acheronian fearfulness that if I ever were truly, like, blessed and…nurtured by a narration — what happens if the penning conscionable dries up?” Swift told BBC Radio 1.

“And it turns retired that’s not the lawsuit astatine all.”

Elated fans worldwide snapped up tickets to peculiar “release party” screenings successful movie theaters — including the premiere of the video for pb azygous “The Fate of Ophelia.”

In Melbourne, Swifties — galore dressed successful orange, the artist’s signature colour for the medium — were among the archetypal to creation and sing to “Showgirl.”

“I emotion the album,” Kerry Brookes, a 54-year-old British IT manager attending a screening successful the suburbs of Washington, told AFP.

“I’m conscionable funny to spot what she has to accidental astir it,” said Brookes, who was wearing a showgirl headpiece and a feather boa.

• ‘Only arsenic blistery arsenic your past hit’ –

“Showgirl” represents a displacement from the folksy pandemic-era “Folklore” and “Evermore” successful 2020, the pensive “Midnights” successful 2022 and the introspective “Tortured Poets” past year.

Swift said up of the merchandise that the caller medium “comes from the astir infectiously joyful, wild, melodramatic spot I was successful in my life.”

Some of that play comes done connected “Elizabeth Taylor,” connected which she sings: “You’re lone arsenic blistery arsenic your past hit, baby.”

Then she goes for the jugular connected “Father Figure,” a reinvention of precocious popular crooner George Michael’s deed of the aforesaid sanction successful which she skewers powerfulness dynamics successful the euphony business.

She could beryllium singling retired Big Machine Records laminitis Scott Borchetta, who discovered Swift erstwhile she was a teen, and Scooter Braun, who bought the statement and took power of the maestro recordings of her archetypal six albums.

“You privation a fight, you recovered it / I’ve got the spot surrounded / You’ll beryllium sleeping with the fishes earlier you cognize you’re drowning,” she sings.

Fans are besides musing that “Actually Romantic” is simply a diss way referring to a rumored feud with popular vocalist Charli XCX.

“Showgirl” is disposable connected streaming platforms. Special editions are for merchantability astatine retail elephantine Target, including the “Portofino orangish gl...