Jack Antonoff is “overwhelmed” by the reaction to Taylor Swift’s new album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, on which he worked on as a producer.
The 40-year-old songwriter co-produced the LP and companion record ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’ with The National’s Aaron Dessner and Taylor and he has taken to social media to thank everyone who has listened and posted their reaction to the songs.
On X, he posted: “[I] love this album more than I can say …. love you all very much … more later very overwhelmed … love you Taylor [sic].”
In two separate posts, Jack – who is credited as a co-writer on several songs – appeared to highlight two of his favourite tracks on the album, writing “!! FOTS heads lets go !!”, seemingly referencing the song ‘Fresh Out The Slammer’, as well as stating “Down bad heads as well”, referring to the track ‘Down Bad’.
After dropping ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ at midnight on Friday (19.04.24), Taylor shocked her fans by revealing the record was a “secret double album”, adding another 15 songs as ‘The Anthology’.
She posted on social media: “It’s a 2am surprise: ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is a secret DOUBLE album.
“I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second instalment of ‘TTPD: The Anthology’. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore … it’s all yours.”
The pop superstar then explained that the double album mirrors a point in her life that’s “now over” and emphasised she has “no scores to settle once wounds have healed” – with fans theorising many of the songs explore her failed relationship with actor Joe Alwyn and her brief romance with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.
Taking to Instagram, she penned: “’The Tortured Poets Department’. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure.
“This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed.
“And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.
“And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.”