What is Taylor Swift teasing with her mysterious ‘Life of a Showgirl’ countdown?

Taylor Swift has her fans excited and counting down for the arrival of something big. The countdown began on the evening of August 11, 2025, with a glittery orange background.

At the other end of the orange-tinted timer on her social media and website was a surprise revelation at 12:12 a.m. ET on August 12. Fans began buzzing after Swift’s marketing team @TaylorNation posted a 12-photo carousel featuring orange bodysuits and dresses from the Eras tour and a shot of Taylor and Sabrina Carpenter’s surprise performance in New Orleans.

The post was captioned:

"Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era…’

Before the countdown, the New Heights podcast hosted by her boyfriend, Travis Kelce and his brother Jason had teased the arrival of a special guest for an August 13, 2025, episode using a silhouette between the brothers’ images.

Swifties were quick to identify the singer. During the podcast episode, the Blank Space hitmaker announced her upcoming 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl. In a video clip shared on the singer’s Instagram, she says:

"Can I show you something?"

Jason Kelce replies:

"Okay. What do we got?

Swift then holds up a mint green briefcase inscribed with her initials in orange. Jason Kelce looks surprised as he asks what’s inside the briefcase.

Taylor Swift responds:

"This is my brand new album, The Life of a Showgirl."

Taylor Swift holds up an album cover, which is obscured, and her boyfriend yells, “T.S. 12!” The link on her Instagram Stories and her website displays the blurred orange and green cover with options to purchase cassette, vinyl and CD versions of the album.

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More details on Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl album

According to the singer’s website, the CD version comes with a poster. The New Heights podcast set also gives several clues about the upcoming album.

There are several Orange-colored books behind Taylor on the set during her appearance on the podcast, amongst them featuring works of Jean Michael Basquiat, Ruth Asawa and Mark Chagall.

A silver microphone and a football are visible in the background. Books about the artist Mark Rothko and Charles and Ray Eames also appear in the space.

In the podcast teaser shared on X, Swift, who sits opposite Kelce, compliments the latter’s blue shirt:

"That's such a nice color on you."

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end replies:

"Yes, I know. It's the color of your eyes, sweetie. It's why we match so well."

Taylor Swift’s album countdown comes weeks after she announced that she had regained rights to the masters of her first six albums: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and Reputation from Shamrock Capital. The release date and track list of The Life of a Showgirl album haven’t been released.

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