After a long rollout, Taylor Swift‘s new album Lover is finally here. It includes the previously released singles “You Need to Calm Down,” “The Archer,” and “Lover,” and features contributions from the likes of St. Vincent, Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, and the Dixie Chicks, who show up on a track called “Soon You’ll Get Better.” The album’s first single “ME!” (ft. Brendon Urie) is here, too, now with 100% less joy in spelling.
Here’s a gem from the album’s opening track: “And I couldn’t get away from ya / In my feelings more than Drake, so ya.”
It’s Taylor’s first album since 2017’s Reputation, and her first with Republic Records and Universal Music Group. She split from her longtime label Big Machine after her contract expired in 2018, and has since expressed her frustration with label founder Scott Borchetta, who sold Big Machine to Scooter Braun earlier this year for a reported $300 million. Let our timeline of the Swift/Braun/Borchetta beef refresh your memory as to what exactly went down, and who’s siding with whom.
Earlier this week, Swift revealed she’s planning on recording new versions of her songs that she’d own in full. Hear Lover below, and revisit our recent essay “Taylor Swift Won’t Let Go of Pop’s Big Machine.”
