Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl is out tomorrow and fan theories have already gone into overdrive.
There’s nothing quite like Swiftie fever when the affectionately nicknamed ‘blondie’ announces … well anything.
This might be the most dazzling roll-out yet, with glitzy countdowns, cryptic posts, and a Spotify pop-up filled with easter eggs.
She even got engaged hours after revealing the album on Travis Kelce’s podcast, prompting huge congratulations for the star.
Despite all the commotion, Taylor has kept the music under lock and key (minus a few leaks online) and broke her own Tortured Poets Department record with pre-saves of over five million.
So we’ve waded through the hype to find out everything about The Life of a Showgirl — including when you can actually listen to it.
What time does The Life of a Showgirl come out in the UK?
For anyone hoping to listen straight away, The Life of a Showgirl comes out at 5am on October 3, 2025 in the UK.
This is because the release is at midnight ET, so rather than local releases, the whole world will get the album at the same time.
While it might be slightly annoying to not have it from midnight, the timing is actually great for fans who don’t want to miss anything overnight; just wake up a bit earlier.
For dedicated Swifties there is also a release party at cinemas across the country on Friday, featuring the premiere of the music video for the album’s first track.
What is the tracklist?
On August 13, Taylor confirmed the full tracklist for fans on her Instagram after appearing on The New Heights podcast.
She confirmed the album was written while touring in Europe, flying to Sweden to meet with the producers during her days off the Eras Tour.
‘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 said.
‘I’m so proud of it. And it comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life, so that effervescence has come through on this record. So as you said, bangers.’
The track list is:
- The Fate of Ophelia
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Opalite
- Father Figure
- Eldest Daughter
- Ruin the Friendship
- Actually Romantic
- Wi$h Li$t
- Wood
- Cancelled!
- Honey
- The Life of a Showgirl (ft Sabrina Carpenter)
Ditching the traditional album rollout, there will be no singles released for TS12 in the run-up to release.
However, tomorrow The Fate of Ophelia will get a full cinematic release for its music video at the release party.
Fans can head to the cinema for behind-the-scenes footage and ‘cut-by-cut explanations of what inspired this music’.
There’s some lyrics which have been teased by Taylor’s team at the NYC pop up, with out-of-context musing about ‘loyalty’ and ‘infamy’.
‘You’re only as hot as your last hit baby,’ one lyric reads.
While another, discovered in a Reputation puzzle, states: ‘They don’t make loyalty like they used to.’
How many versions of the album are there?
Taylor has hinted there will be no deluxe version of the album on the way, stating that these 12 songs are ‘it’.
On the podcast, she shared: ‘There are no other songs coming … with Tortured Poets Department, I was like, “Here is a data dump of everything I have thought, felt, experienced in two or three years. Here’s 31 songs.” This is 12.
‘There’s not a 13th, there’s not other ones coming. This is the record I’ve been wanting to make for a very long time.’
That hasn’t stopped her from releasing alternative vinyl and cd variants to go with the release, each with its own glittering countdown clock on her site.
Each vinyl variant — after the standard orange and green — had a new album artwork, with two colour schemes to choose from for the pressing.
They are: The Shiny Bug Collection, The Baby That’s Show Business Collection, The Tiny Bubble in Champagne Collection, and The Crowd is King Target-only version.
On top of this, there are CD versions — It’s Beautiful, It’s Rapturous and It’s Frightening — which have got an alternative Target-exclusive deluxe package.
Is Jack Antonoff involved?
No, Jack Antonoff is not credited on The Life of a Showgirl album, despite having worked with Taylor frequently since 2013.
After writing and producing single Sweeter than Fiction, the writing duo would go on to work together the following year for 1989.
This is the first album since then that Jack has not received a single writing or production credit, including on her re-released albums.
Jack, who was credited on Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend’ is known for his signature synth style.
Instead, Taylor has gone back to Max Martin and Shellback, who she last worked with on 2017’s Reputation.
The duo were involved in Red, 1989, and Reputation — three albums which many fans feel are her greatest works. No pressure then.
Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl is out at 5am on October 3, 2025 in the UK.