Taylor Swift Shares A Major Hint About Her New Album

Taylor Swift has announced a new album, The Life of a Showgirl. The singer-songwriter’s upcoming twelfth full-length of original material doesn’t yet have a release date, and the superstar has not posted the cover. She has hinted that this era will be centered around the color orange, and because it’s Swift, she’s dropped Easter eggs about what this new chapter may sound like. Her latest Spotify playlist gives some insight into who may have worked on the project, and it seems like she’s headed back to the world of pop.

Taylor Swift’s New Spotify Playlist

Swift has four public playlists on her Spotify account, and the most recent is titled And, Baby, That’s Show Business for You. The image connected to the playlist is clearly associated with her upcoming album based on its colors. Swift didn’t share any new music — not yet. Instead, she compiled tunes from her past eras, and they all have something in common.

Max Martin and Shellback May Be Back

The newly published playlist features 22 tracks and coincidentally begins with the song “22.” Although, of course, this is Swift, so nothing is a coincidence. The tracks come from different albums, including Red, 1989, Reputation, and the re-recorded Red (Taylor’s Version). Super producers and songwriters Max Martin and Shellback are credited on each and every one of them. Swift seems to clearly be telling the world that these two names were heavily involved with The Life of a Showgirl, without actually saying it.

“Bad Blood,” Shake It Off” and “Blank Space”

Martin and Shellback rank among the most successful hitmakers in pop music history. Looking specifically at Swift’s discography, they had a hand in some of her most famous tunes, like “Bad Blood,” “Blank Space,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “Shake It Off,” and “Style,” among others. If Swift is looking to conquer the charts again with huge radio-ready pop bangers, these are some of the artists she should work with — and it appears she has.

The Many No. 1s of Max Martin and Shellback

Martin has written or co-written 27 Hot 100 No. 1s and produced or co-produced 25, which is a record. In addition to his work with Swift, he’s also scored champions on the Billboard songs tally with Ariana Grande (“Yes” and “No Tears Left to Cry”), BTS (“My Universe” with Coldplay), The Weeknd (“Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears”), and multiple smashes with Katy Perry (“I Kissed a Girl,” “Teenage Dream,” and “Part of Me”). He first reached the summit in 1998 when Britney Spears’s “…Baby One More Time” dominated in America.

Shellback also earned one of his first big wins with Spears, as “If U Seek Amy,” a single from Circus, became a standout smash more than a decade ago. He’s also landed on the Hot 100 with Usher (“DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love”), Pink (“Raise Your Glass”), and Maroon 5 (“Moves Like Jagger” with Christina Aguilera”), among many others.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2025/08/12/taylor-swift-shares-a-major-hint-about-her-new-album/