Taylor Swift had one more gift up her sleeve. On Friday, Sept. 25, she released The Life of a Showgirl: Encore, a deluxe edition of her 12th studio album, adding four new tracks:“Patient Zero,”“Babylon,”“Pink Clouding”and“Cleveland!”. The twist? She only announced it two days before it hit streaming, and she teased it by swapping the O’s in her Instagram bio and Apple Music lyrics for zeros, a not-so-subtle nod to“Patient Zero.”
The new songs were written in Sweden with her longtime collaborators Max Martin and Shellback. In a note to fans, Swift explained that the original album’s historic success, including a record-shattering 4.002 million equivalent album units in its first U.S. week and 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, inspired her to keep going out of“pure gratitude.”Translation: these songs are a thank-you note to the fandom.
Next up, Swift premieres the“Patient Zero”music video at the VMAs on Sunday, Sept. 27, with Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson starring. She’ll also receive the inaugural Artist Director Honor that night. Which of the four new tracks is your favorite so far? Let us know in the comments.
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.