As Taylor Swift‘s 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, made its way into the world at midnight on April 19 via Republic Records, Swift’s longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff tweeted in praise the new project.
Early on April 19, Antonoff wrote, “love this album more than i can say …. love you all very much … more later very overwhelmed … love you taylor.”
Antonoff also seemed to praise specific songs from the album in other tweets, writing, “!! FOTS heads lets go!!” which seemed to be a nod to the song “Fresh Out the Slammer.” He also wrote, “down bad heads as well,” which seemed to refer to the album’s “Down Bad.”
The Tortured Poets Department features 16 songs, including collaborations with Post Malone (“Fortnight”) and Florence + The Machine (“Florida!!!”). At 2 a.m. on Friday, Swift surprised fans by revealing that The Tortured Poets Department is a double album, and released a slate of 15 additional tracks.
Antonoff, who also serves as the lead singer for the rock band Bleachers, is a co-producer and writer on the new album alongside Swift and Aaron Dessner, and has worked closely with Swift on several of her albums. One of their earliest moments working together was in 2013 when they co-wrote and produced “Sweeter Than Fiction” from the soundtrack of the film One Chance. Antonoff then co-wrote and co-produced several songs from Swift’s 1989 album, which won best pop vocal album and album of the year at the 2016 Grammy Awards.
Following the success of 1989, Antonoff has been involved in co-writing and co-producing Swift’s albums including Reputation, Lover, Folklore, Evermore and Midnights, as well as working on many of the “From the Vault” tracks on Swift’s re-recorded (“Taylor’s Version”) albums. He has also worked with artists including Lana Del Rey, The Chicks, Lorde, Pink and Sia.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times earlier this year, Antonoff praised Swift’s songwriting prowess, saying that the prospect of questioning Swift’s songwriting abilities “is like challenging someone’s faith in God. You just don’t go there.”
