Taylor Swift has been open about her belief in the power of the number 13.
And in keeping with that motto and her strategic marketing abilities when it comes to her career as a pop superstar, the Enchanted singer, 34, made a point to reference the 13 day mark until the release of her new studio album.
The Tortured Poets Department, her 11th album of her illustrious career, is slated to drop at midnight on April 19.
In a nod to the past, Swift had a video posted to her Instagram Stories showing an old-school typewriter that begins to slowly write out the message, all while reminding fans to pre-order the album.
’13 days until THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT,’ it reads by the time the message is finished, which ends with someone hitting the ‘return’ key and scrolling up one line.
The 14-time Grammy winner has appeared to be obsessed with ’13’ being a lucky number since she was young girl.
It turns out she’s been transfixed with it after realizing she was born on December 13 and that she turned 13 on a Friday the 13th, according to People.
Ultimately, she had her first number one country hit song with an intro that was 13 seconds long.
Swift’s promotional push for the new album got a boost this week when SiriusXM revealed the launch of a channel dedicated solely to the singer-songwriter that’s fittingly named Channel 13 (Taylor’s Version), which is a reference to both her favorite number and her recent rereleases.
It turns out representatives at Sirius XM made sure to add in a number 13 connection by launching the channel 13 days before her album drop.
‘The 13th day of the channel, Friday, April 19, coincides with the release of Taylor Swift’s new album The Tortured Poets Department,’ SiriusXM announced in a press release. ‘Channel 13 (Taylor’s Version) will be playing the full album beginning to end continuously throughout the weekend.’
Swift has been in promo mode for her upcoming release ever since she first made the announcement about the existence of The Tortured Poets Department during her acceptance speech at the 2024 Grammy Awards ceremony on February 4.
‘So I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my brand new album comes out on April 19,’ she said on stage after thanking the Recording Academy. ‘It’s called The Tortured Poets Department. I’m gonna go and post the cover right now backstage. Thank you. I love you.’
Since the Grammys, Team Swift have been sharing various nuggets of information and teasers regarding her batch of new songs on her social media platforms.
Fans have since learned that the lyrics on The Tortured Poets Department will explore five stages of heartbreak: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
On Friday, Swift shared five playlists with Apple Music — one for each of those stages, with each playlist containing songs from her past albums.
The playlists are titled I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life Songs, You Don’t Get To Tell Me About Sad Songs, Am I Allowed To Cry? Songs, Old Habits Die Screaming Songs and I Can Do It With A Broken Heart Songs.
The Tortured Poets Department will be released at midnight on April 19.
