Calling all Taylor Swift fans: are you ready for this?
Swift was seen exiting a recording studio in New York City on Thursday, according to Entertainment Tonight. If that means Swift is working on a follow-up to 2017’s reputation, it would also mean her seventh studio album might just be around the corner.
Now comes the fun part: what do you think she’ll do on TS7? True to form, Swift kept herself booked and busy in the past year, meaning there’s plenty of experiences to draw inspiration from. She went on her reputation tour, racking in millions of dollars in profits and culminating in a concert movie on Netflix. Maybe this new album will be a well-earned victory lap — even though she was surprisingly snubbed in this year’s Grammy nominations, Swift has been a force to be reckoned with, dominating streaming through 2018 and topping the Billboard charts with the release of reputation.
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Swift also jumped into the political fray to endorse a slate of Democrats in the 2018 midterms, urging her fans to vote (and to vote early) in the election. As we barrel towards the 2020 presidential election (and all the online trolling and casual misogyny that comes with it), we might get a more political Swift on record than we have ever seen before. It would be great to see Swift lean into “girl power” themes in her music and even make her feminism explicit, be it directly through her lyrics or actions such as collaborating with more women in the music industry — Swift could start partnering with women songwriters, producers, and executives to make this record her most overtly feminist one yet.
Her career is also reaching new heights. Swift signed to a new label in 2018 and, in a groundbreaking power move, negotiated for ownership of her own music and secured shares of the streaming profits. While Swift’s complicated relationship with streaming has made headlines before, it would be fascinating to hear her talk about her business life — particularly because, as one of the biggest pop stars of 2019, her position is an extremely unique and influential one. Perhaps TS7 will be influenced by Swift’s new creative and business ventures, and we might very well see her take liberties with how and when she chooses to release her next album.
Maybe fans will also get a peek into her relationship with her long-time boyfriend Joe Alwyn — although, out of respect for their hard-won privacy, we don’t necessarily need to get more specifics. And if you do want a few more details about Swift’s life in this album, it would be just as exciting for Swift to bring her close friendships front and center, too, considering how much love there is between her and her squad.
The possibilities feel endless — and while the old Taylor may be long gone, we can’t wait to see what Swift’s got in store for us next.