Surprise! Taylor Swift gave night owls a bonus when she dropped the secret, second part of The Tortured Poets Department. Swift had teased a mysterious 2am countdown ahead of the conventional midnight release of Tortured Poets. For Swifties, it was worth the wait as the collection extended by an additional 15 songs. “It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album,” writes Swift on Instagram. “I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The final, sprawling edition comes in at 31 songs, and more than two hours of playing time. If three is the magic number, two is a godsend for Swifties, many of whom have noticed that their idol has been waving the number 2 in their faces for weeks. Her Tortured Poets Spotify library installation in Los Angeles featured a peace-sign statuette, and Swift herself flashed two fingers on camera at the 2024 Grammys when she first announced her new record. The clocks at the library pop-up and in her cryptic “Fortnight” music video announcement from earlier this week have all been set to 2 o’clock, and the star tweeted Wednesday, “✌️days til THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT.” Trending on Billboard Swift’s stamina is hard to beat. Tortured Poets is her fifth studio album in less than five years, a period that has also included four re-recorded Taylor’s Version albums. So, make that nine full length recordings since the months prior to the pandemic. Her epic The Eras Tour is currently on a break, and will restart next month for a summer stadium run across the U.K. and Europe. TayTay announced The Tortured Poets Department at the 2024 Grammy Awards in February, where she won album of the year for a record fourth time, with Midnights, her 10th studio effort. In the same month, Swift collected the IFPI’s Global Recording Artist award for a fourth time, also a record. Stream The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology in full below.

Following the experimental music journey that was 2020’s Gigaton, Pearl Jam returns to familiar, heavy turf on Dark Matter, the legendary Seattle rock band’s 12th studio album. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Dropping at the stroke of midnight, Dark Matter (via Monkeywrench Records/Republic Records) spans 11 (mostly) burly numbers, including the previously-released midtempo cut “Wreckage” and the title track, which powered to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay and Rock & Alternative Airplay Charts. Grammy Award-winning producer Andrew Watt is back behind the desk on Dark Matter, built on foundations of blazing guitars and busy drumming, and which ought to be played “loud, like, really loud,” frontman Eddie Vedder told Alt 98.7. Trending on Billboard Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, recognition of a mighty, three-decade-plus career that has yielded 12 top 10s on the Billboard 200 chart, including five leaders, and over 85 million albums shifted worldwide, according to reps. The members of Pearl Jam—Vedder, Jeff Ament (bass), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Matt Cameron (drums)—workshopped the album last year at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La Studios in Malibu. With Watt at the desk, the creative process found turbo-packs, and the record came together in three weeks. Vedder, McCready, and Ament premiered the LP at a listening party in West Hollywood earlier this year, attended by a few hundred family, friends, industry professionals and media, the Associated Press reported at the time. “You all get together as a group as we’ve been doing for 30-plus years and you say, ‘Let’s try it again,’” Vedder reportedly told guests from the stage as he introduced the record. “No hyperbole, I think this is our best work.”In support of the new LP, Vedder and CO. will embark on a world tour. Those Dark Matter World Tour 2024 dates will see the band visit nine countries and 25 cities, kicking off at May 4 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. Stream Dark Matter in full below.

Nicki Minaj wasn’t messing around when she was teasing bringing the heavy hitters out for her “FTCU” remix. The Barbz leader revealed on Thursday (April 18) that the star-studded trio of Travis Scott, Chris Brown and Sexyy Red would be joining her for the “FTCU (Sleeze Mix).” Mere hours later, Nicki closed out Aries season […]

Why take your gin straight when you can have it with a side of Hardy? In honor of Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre‘s new Gin & Juice canned cocktail venture, the country-rock star released a cover of the hip-hop duo’s classic “Gin and Juice” on Friday (April 19), with a music video to follow next […]

Taylor Swift just released her new album The Tortured Poets Department — but from the looks of a mysterious new countdown hidden on her Instagram profile, the fun is far from over. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news As soon as the pop star’s 16-track project dropped at midnight on Friday (April 19), Swift made her very first post on Threads, Instagram’s text-only counterpart which launched last year. At the same time, a mysterious two-hour countdown went live on her Instagram page, potentially ticking down to a new announcement or surprise coming at 2 a.m. ET. The new countdown is sure to pique the interests of Swifties, who have noticed that the musician has seemingly been teasing the number 2 for weeks. Her Tortured Poets Spotify library installation in Los Angeles featured a peace-sign statuette, and Swift herself flashed two fingers on camera at the 2024 Grammys when she first announced her new record. The clocks at the library pop-up and in her cryptic “Fortnight” music video announcement from earlier this week have all been set to 2 o’clock, and the star tweeted Wednesday, “✌️days til THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT.” Trending on Billboard ✌️days til THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 17, 2024 Only time will tell what 2 a.m brings — but in the meantime, Instagram and Threads have several other new features for Swifties to enjoy. Fans can now change their direct messaging backgrounds to visuals inspired by the Tortured Poets album artwork; plus, Threads users who share the singer’s first post will receive a custom “TTPD” badge on their profile, distinguishing them as bona fide Swifties. In the week leading up to Tortured Poets release day, Instagram launched its original secret countdown, which was only visible when fans pulled down on Swift’s profile to “refresh.” The countdown also prompted viewers to follow the 14-time Grammy winner on Threads. As this was going on, conversations on Threads tagged #TTPD, #The Tortured Poets Department, #Tortured Poets, #TSTTPD, #Swifties or #Taylor Swift prompted a special shimmer effect to appear, while celebratory hearts appeared onscreen for those who “liked” a post stamped with any of the same tags. Complete with 16 tracks, four bonus songs spread out across various deluxe versions and collaborations with Post Malone and Florence + The Machine, The Tortured Poets Department was one of the most anticipated releases of 2024. Swift took a break from her global Eras Tour to prepare for the album’s release but will resume the trek in May. “It kind of reminded me of why songwriting is something that actually gets me through my life,” she said of the project at a February Eras show. “I’ve never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I needed it on Tortured Poets.”