What to Know About Taylor Swift’s Collaborators on The Tortured Poets Department
Taylor Swift has worked with all kinds of artists over the years, from rappers to country stars. On her recent projects, Swift has remained consistent when it comes to the teams of producers, songwriters, and featured artists she chooses to work with. This is clear with The Tortured Poets Department, released April 19, which lists just seven people in the writing and production credits. Most of the songs are written by Swift, her long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff, and The National’s Aaron Dessner.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]Antonoff and Swift have worked closely together since 2014’s 1989, and his production and writing have come to be expected on her albums. Even so, before the release of The Tortured Poets Department, Antonoff would not confirm nor deny whether or not he had worked on the album. In an interview with a local paper in the Netherlands, the 39-year-old producer got upset with a reporter for asking if he had worked on this album. “You know I don’t talk about that,” he said during the interview, before hanging up the phone. “If you’re looking for clickbait, you’ve come to the wrong place. Thank you for this conversation.”
He’s since expressed his excitement about the album on social media. “Love this album more than i can say …. love you all very much … more later very overwhelmed … love you taylor,” he wrote in a post on X.
Here are all of the collaborators on Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Jack Antonoff
Swift and Antonoff first worked together in 2013 on a song called “Sweeter Than Fiction” for the movie One Chance. Since then, they have been somewhat inseparable. He’s worked on every album since 1989—including all four of her re-recorded albums. On this latest album, Antonoff has 16 production credits and 10 songwriting credits.
Aaron Dessner
Dessner is a newer collaborator on Swift’s roster. Swift and Antonoff introduced Dessner into their fold during the making of folklore—an album that went on to win Album of the Year at the 2021 Grammy Awards. Their collaboration continued throughout this new phase in Swift’s career, and he has credits on evermore, Midnights, three of her re-recorded albums—Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), and Red (Taylor’s Version)—and now The Tortured Poets Department. He has 16 production credits and 15 songwriting credits across the album, including songs like “So Long, London,” “But Daddy, I Love Him,” and “Clara Bow.”
Post Malone
Post Malone is an unexpected addition to Swift’s world. Their sounds rarely align, but it seems like Post Malone is everywhere lately. If Beyoncé can find a way to have him as a featured artist on her album, so can Swift. He’s one of the two featured artists on the album and one of the few songwriters as well. He lends some vocals on the opening track, “Fortnight,” which Swifts announced as the album’s lead single.
Florence Welch
Florence Welch does not appear as a featured artist often, but when she does, it’s a special moment. The singer made a rare appearance on someone else’s album, giving Swift that honor, on the song “Florida!!!” Welch also joins the short list of songwriters on this album. The singer praised Swift in an Instagram post, saying, “Me and my ghosts, we had a hell of a time. Honoured to be in this department.”