Taylor Swift has shared the video for the lead single from ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, her Post Malone collaboration ‘Fortnight’.
The video was unveiled at 8pm ET/1am following the release of a trailer yesterday (April 19) and begins with Swift in dark makeup being tied to a bedframe in a white room where the furniture is upside down. She is later seen wiping her face to reveal facial tattoos similar to Malone’s.
The pair are later seen hammering away at typewriters, writing out the lyric ‘I love you, it’s ruining my life’. Swift and Post Malone are also shown dramatically searching through files, throwing things and emotionally embracing on the road.
Swift is then seen being experimented on by a group of scientists, including Malone, while he later ends up singing in a phone box on a mountain, sheltered from the pouring rain.
Check out the visuals for ‘Fortnight’ below:
In a three-star review of the album, NME wrote: “‘The Tortured Poets Department’ ends up chasing its own tail with frenzied attempts to respond to critics despite Swift’s current stature.”
It continued: “Swift seems to be in tireless pursuit for superstardom, yet the negative public opinion it can come with irks her, and it’s a tired theme now plaguing her discography and leaving little room for the poignant lyrical observations she excels at. It’s why the pitfalls that mire her 11th studio album are all the more disappointing – she’s proven time and time again she can do better.
“To a Melbourne audience of her ‘Eras Tour’, Swift said that ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ came from a “need” to write. It’s just that maybe we didn’t need to hear it.”
Numerous artists are namechecked throughout ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. The title track refers to a “Lucy”, which fans seem convinced is a reference to Lucy Dacus, one third of the Grammy-winning group boygenius. Charlie Puth gets a shout out on the same song, while fans are also speculating about whether ‘thanK you aIMee’ is aimed at Kim Kardashian.
Swift also namechecked the cult Scottish indie band The Blue Nile on ‘Guilty As Sin?’, which appears to be another nod to The 1975’s Matty Healy, with whom Taylor was romantically linked for a short period of time in 2023.
Following the LP’s release, Swift will resume her career-spanning ‘Eras Tour’ in Europe next month before heading to the UK and Ireland in June. Swift is due to play eight shows at Wembley Stadium in London this summer as part of the run, with support coming from Paramore.
