The speculation ended for Swifties on Friday as Taylor Swift confirmed the release date of her rerecorded album Speak Now (Taylor's Version), which will be available in all formats from July 7.
Swift made the announcement during the middle of her Nashville concert, much to the delight of her screaming admirers. Speak Now stood out when it was first released in 2010 for being the only album with all songs written solely by Swift. The bright purple dress she wore for the cover also made it one of her most recognisable.
The album, the third and latest in the songwriter's Taylor's Version series of rerecorded albums, will feature early hits such as Dear John, Mean and Enchanted, as well as six new songs.
Making the announcement official soon after on Instagram, Swift wrote: “I first made Speak Now, completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20. The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness.
"I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing … and living to speak about it. With six extra songs I’ve sprung loose from the vault, I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) with you on July 7.”
The post also released the album's new cover art, which has Swift surrounded in a swirl of purple fabric similar to the original album cover.
The clues were in the colour
Swift's fans have been picking up on clues — obvious and cryptic — for months, pertaining to the colour purple.
In the music video for Bejeweled, for instance, sharp-eyed Swifties noted that the singer dons violet-hued earrings and presses the third floor in an elevator shot, with the button a bright shade of purple.
Following her Atlanta concert and just before she performed in Nashville, Swift put up an Instagram post wearing a feathered purple coat.
At the end of her performance on Sunday, concertgoers noticed their wristbands turned purple, which was also the colour of the banners put up at Nashville's Nissan Stadium. The stage, too, was lit up in the same shade during Swift's performance of Tolerate It.
The purple theme continued after Swift made the announcement, with the city of Nashville turning on purple lights on the bridge near the stadium over the Cumberland River.
The LP version of Speak Now (Taylor's Version), too, will be a three-record set released on three violet marble colour vinyl discs.
