It's showtime.
Taylor Swift's 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," has finally arrived.
The album features fresh music and marks the beginning of a new era for Swift, who has described the album as "a lot more upbeat" than her previous music.
"It's a lot more like fun pop, like excitement," Swift said on the "New Heights" podcast in August, when she announced the news of her new album. "I think it's a complete 180 from a lot of the songs on 'Tortured Poets' for sure."
Swift collaborated with Max Martin and Shellback on the album. She previously worked with them on her "Red," "Reputation" and "1989" albums.
Here's everything to know about "The Life of a Showgirl."
"The Life of a Showgirl" was released at midnight on Friday, Oct. 3.
"I can't tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right. A forever thank you goes out to my mentors and friends Max and Shellback for helping me paint this self portrait," Swift wrote on Instagram when the album dropped.
"If you thought the big show was wild, perhaps you should come and take a look behind the curtain...The Life of a Showgirl is out now," she added.
"The Life of a Showgirl" has 12 new songs.
The title track features Swift's fellow pop star, Sabrina Carpenter.
See the full track list here.
In the album's title track, Swift is joined by Carpenter in singing from the viewpoint of women who want the showgirl life but are told it's not for them, only to become showgirls anyway.
"I'm married to the hustle / And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe / And I'll never know another," the lyrics go.
In "Cancelled!", Swift sings, "Good thing I like my friends cancelled / I like 'em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal ... At least you know exactly who your friends are / They're the ones with matching scars."
Swift appears to reference the Shakespearean character Ophelia from "Hamlet" in "The Fate of Ophelia," singing, "The eldest daughter of a nobleman / Ophelia lived in fantasy / But love was a cold bed full of scorpions / The venom stole her sanity / And if you'd never come for me / I might've lingered in purgatory."
Leading up to the release of the album, Swift teased several lyrics, which were projected on billboards in New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Swift does not name her fiance Travis Kelce in her new album, but fans have already spotted references to the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.
In "The Fate of Ophelia," Swift references Kelce's frequent catchphrase, singing, "Keep it 100 on the land, the sea, thе sky / Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes."
In the same song, Swift sings "I heard you calling on the megaphone / You want to see me all alone," which could be a reference to Kelce publicly expressing his interest in Swift on his "New Heights" podcast before they started dating.
Kelce's birthstone for his October birthday is opal, which fans are pointing to as inspiration for Swift's single "Opalite," which both Swift and Kelce have said is the football player's favorite song on the album.
"But now the sky is opalite / Oh my lord, never met no one like you before," Swift sings.
Another song, "Wi$h Li$t," features Swift singing about finding a "best friend who I think is hot."
"I just want you / Have a couple kids, got the whole block lookin' like you," she sings. "I made wishes on all of the stars / Please, God, bring me a best friend / Who I think is hot."
Swift invited the public to the album's launch party, a theatrical event dubbed "The Official Release Party of a Showgirl."
The launch party features exclusive world premiere of Swift's music video for her new single, "The Fate of Ophelia," along with behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the video.
The 89-minute event is running on Oct. 3 in each of AMC's 540 theaters, as well as some non-AMC theaters.
"I hereby invite you to a *dazzling* soirée, The Official Release Party of a Showgirl: Oct 3 - Oct 5 only in cinemas!" Swift captioned a Sept. 19 Instagram post announcing the event.
In August, the "Fortnight" singer revealed her upcoming album during an appearance on Kelce's "New Heights" podcast.
During the episode, which was Swift's podcast debut, Swift also revealed the cover of her upcoming album.
Swift described "The Life of a Showgirl" on Instagram as a, "self portrait."
The singer shared on the "New Heights" podcast that she worked on "The Life of a Showgirl" while she was in Europe on her Eras Tour.
She also opened up about how meaningful the project is for her.
"I care more about this record more than I can even overstate," she said at the time. "This is the record I've been wanting to make for a very long time."
In an interview on "The Graham Norton Show" Friday, Swift indicated that her new music is less introspective than her past albums.
“In recent years, I have a different perspective and like storytelling at a little bit of a distance, so it isn’t like doing a complete autopsy of myself," she told Norton, adding about how she's grown as an artist, "I think my wheelhouse is bigger now."
Noticeably present throughout Swift's new album cover is an orange theme.
On the "New Heights" podcast, Swift said that the color "feels kind of energetically how my life has felt."
"And this album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant," she said at the time.
