Why did Taylor Swift decide to announce her 12th album on ‘New Heights’? Love, say Philly-area Swifties

Rachel Ornstein spent Monday night pacing around the living room of her Spring Garden apartment as The Eras Tour documentary played in the background. An ominous orange countdown to midnight stared her down from her laptop. What, Ornstein thought, could Taylor Swift possibly do this time?

Swift announced her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, as the clock struck midnight Tuesday. It capped a day of promotion that began with the New Heights podcast announcing that it would return from hiatus early to drop a very special episode on Wednesday at 7 p.m.: Swift in conversation with her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and his brother, former Eagles center and Philly king Jason.

“I wanted to show you something,” Swift says to Jason while unlocking a mint green briefcase in an Instagram clip that has been viewed more than 125 million times. “This is my brand new album.” Naturally, Jason screams.

“I was buzzed,” said Ornstein, 25, who got hooked on Swift after watching All Too Well: The Short Film, which the singer directed to accompany the release of Red (Taylor’s Version). “It was almost like the shot heard around the world, just absolutely electric.”

Despite being on what should’ve been her year of rest and relaxation after wrapping up “The Eras Tour,” Swift has been leaving Easter eggs — her signature hidden clues — to tease her upcoming release. There were the 12 dotted Is in the letter Swift wrote after purchasing back her master recordings, and the oddly specific focus on section A12 (for Aug. 12, duh) at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium in a TikTok that Swift filmed last October.

Nothing, however, could’ve prepared Swifties for the nature of this announcement.

» READ MORE: Taylor Swift will finally make ‘New Heights’ debut with Travis and Jason Kelce after unveiling her new album

Swift has shied away from traditional media since the pandemic, announcing her latest stretch of new releases and re-recordings on social media and at the occasional awards show. New Heights is the first podcast Swift has appeared on. It also marks the first time she has done press with a romantic partner, a sign many Swifties have taken to mean true love.

“Whenever I’m with her, it feels like we’re just regular people. When there is not a camera on us, we’re just two people that are in love,” Kelce said in a recent GQ interview.

All of this fanfare has Swifties basking in happiness — and also asking the big questions: What will The Life of a Showgirl sound like? Will there be a tour? And how, if at all, could Swift ever top Eras?

“This is a pop culture canon event that we’re all witnessing,” said Ornstein. “I’m so curious what she does next.”

Longtime Swiftie Lisa Jefferson said she had a “meltdown” in her car while driving to a nail appointment when a friend called to break the news of Swift’s New Heights appearance.

“I pulled into a gas station and started shaking. What’s a more perfect way to announce her album than on her boyfriend’s podcast?” said Jefferson, a 37-year-old marketing manager from Center City. “God, it sounds so high school when you say it like that.”

New Heights isn’t exactly a run-of-the-mill sports commentary podcast: The Kelce brothers signed a $100 million deal in 2024 to bring New Heights to Amazon’s just-shuttered Wondery. A sizable portion of the podcast’s 2.6 million subscribers are Swifties, who tune in for football lessons and bite-sized stories about Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship.

The show also fits in with the crossover brand Swift has built: The pop star generated $331 million in value for the NFL after attending just 12 Chiefs games during the 2023-24 season, contributing to a growing audience of female football fans.

Swift “took two highly anticipated events and mashed them together,” said Stephen Vanyo, a Philly-based agent who represents a roster of musicians and athletes. “For every fan she’s brought to it … there’s still plenty of male football fans who listen to New Heights for football commentary because they enjoy Jason Kelce. She gets the husbands, the dads, the brothers, and the boyfriends involved.”

Swift and Travis Kelce have been photographed together frequently since July 2023, when the Chiefs tight end tried — and failed — to slip Swift a friendship bracelet with his number on it. They’ve stepped out at swanky dinners, summertime weddings, and even charity events, like the Tight Ends University concert in Nashville where Swift performed for the first time since wrapping up her tour.

» READ MORE: Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce merch is a gold rush for Philly-area businesses

For the less cynical, the oversaturation of “Tayvis” is just further proof that the couple is meant to be.

“Her going on [New Heights] is the best thing to ever happen to Swifties,” said Rachael Harr, 41, a product manager from Glenside. “It’s the first time we get to see her having a full conversation with a significant other, which is her way of showing us she feels happy and safe” with Travis.

Ornstein agrees: “Taylor doesn’t need to do any promotion for anything she does for the rest of her life if she doesn’t want to … You can feel through the screen in those clips that she wanted to be there.”

Swift has already hinted at what The Life of a Showgirl could sound like. On Tuesday, Swift released a Spotify playlist full of 22 songs produced by Max Martin, whose work helped Swift hone the pop sound that dominated 1989 and Reputation.

“This is going to be such a pop powerhouse,” said Jefferson, who cried while preordering the yet-to-be-released album. “Just very fun and very playful.”

Nicholle Valines, 36, of Mayfair, hopes the album is more introspective and parses how Swift has managed to drown out the gossip and criticism that has followed her since she was a teen. When Valines heard that Swift would appear on New Heights, she briefly snuck out of work to freak out in her car.

“I don’t know if Taylor is going to give us insight into what it’s like to portray this persona of showgirl instead of who she actually is,” Valines said. “Or if it’s a love letter to her partner and her fans, saying that she loves her life as a showgirl.”