NEW YORK - Taylor Swift on Oct 3 quickly set a streaming record with The Life Of A Showgirl, her new album of bouncy pop songs about love, sex, success – and score-settling – that had fans analysing every word.

Critical opinion of Showgirl ranged from glowing to unimpressed, but fans flocked to Spotify to hear the 12 tracks, making it the most streamed album in one day in 2025 in less than 11 hours, the platform said.

Swift reunited with Swedish hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback for her 12th studio album, and their influence is clear in the driving beats and catchy hooks.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right,” the 35-year-old artist posted on Instagram.

While the album still features plenty of introspection, it reveals a lighter, joyful Swift – in love with her NFL Super Bowl champion fiance Travis Kelce, happy to have bought back her music catalog and proud of her record-shattering Eras Tour.

“I just want you, have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you... Got me dreaming about a driveway with a basketball hoop,” she sings on the dreamy Wish List.

On Opalite, which Kelce has said is his favourite track, she says, “You were dancing through the lightning strikes / Sleepless in the onyx night / But now the sky is opalite.”

“I used to have this dark fear that if I ever were truly, like, happy and... nurtured by a relationship – what happens if the writing just dries up?” Swift told BBC Radio 1.

“And it turns out that’s not the case at all.”

Elated fans worldwide snapped up tickets to special “release party” screenings in movie theatres – including the premiere of the video for lead single The Fate Of Ophelia.

In Melbourne, Swifties – many dressed in orange, the artist’s signature colour for the album – were among the first to dance and sing to ...