Taylor Swift Showgirl Encore: 4 New Songs and Tracklist
On Friday, Taylor Swift added four songs to The Life of a Showgirl, an album she had said was finished. "There's not a 13th, there's not other ones coming," she told fans when it came out on October 3, 2025. The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore now runs to 16 tracks: "Patient Zero," "Cleveland!," "Pink Clouding" and "Babylon," numbered 13 through 16.
Swift wrote the four songs in Sweden with Max Martin and Shellback, the same producers behind the original record. Her note to fans framed them as a thank-you: "I hope you love them, because they were born out of pure gratitude for your exuberance for and celebration of the album we made."
The first songs from a married Swift
They are also the first songs Swift has released since her July 3, 2026 wedding to Travis Kelce, and at least one is about exactly that. Variety describes "Cleveland!" as a honeymoon song built around a spoken monologue: "You only need to find one person in this entire world who doesn't find you completely insufferable, and I have an important announcement to make - I found mine." Billboard notes that the chorus ends "This is the love of my life, hey hey hey!" Kelce grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, which makes him the obvious reference point; Swift has not publicly explained the title.
"Patient Zero" points in the other direction. UPI reports that it addresses the woman who is now with an ex, a man with "the devil on his shoulder under his halo." Variety picks "Pink Clouding" as the strongest of the four.
Divided response
Early reaction from listeners was not uniform. One X user wrote: "I am a swiftie but I also have ears." Another posted: "These songs are not it for me." First-day streaming figures had not been released as of Friday, so there is no data yet to say whether the audience matches the noise.
The VMAs are Sunday
The next test is the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, September 27, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles (7:30 p.m. ET on CBS, MTV and Paramount+; host Snoop Dogg). Swift will receive the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors. The video for "Patient Zero," which she directed and which stars Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell, premieres during the show.
For US readers, the move follows a familiar Swift pattern: an album released, then reopened. The difference is that this time she told fans the door was closed.
Swift's fans have spent a year decoding her clues, and some are already claiming that this release hides an anagram tied to a Taylor's Version re-recording. None of that has been confirmed by Swift or her team.
What has been confirmed is a date. On Sunday night, the "Patient Zero" video premieres in front of a Los Angeles room, with Swift on hand to collect her award.
