Taylor Swift announces new single Patient Zero, to be released on Sept 25
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The pop billionaire announced her new single in an Instagram post.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Taylor Swift will release her new single Patient Zero on Sept 25, with pre-orders available for 24 hours and three limited-edition CD variants priced at US$3.99 each.
- She teased fans with hidden clues, including a cryptic countdown and Instagram profile changes, sparking speculation about the single's connection to her previous album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
- It's unclear if Patient Zero is a standalone track, part of a deluxe album or a teaser for a new album, as Swift recently shifted from releasing lead singles to dropping full albums at once.
AI generated
Swifties, You Need To Calm Down.
Newly married Taylor Swift is releasing a new single titled Patient Zero on Sept 25, after teasing her fans with multiple Easter eggs.
The pop billionaire said in an Instagram post on Sept 23 at about 2am (Singapore time): “I’ve been impatiently waiting to tell you that my brand-new single Patient Zero will be out on Sept 25 and it’s available to pre-order now on my website for 24 hours.”
The post was accompanied by four emojis of the numeral zero.
Three limited-edition CD variants of her new single – a double-sided cover, an acoustic version and a piano version – are available for sale on Swift’s website at US$3.99 (S$5.09) each.
Ahead of the drop, Swift gave more hints by changing the description on her Instagram profile to “And, baby, that’s sh0w business f0r y0u”, with each letter “o” replaced with the numeral zero.
She then launched a cryptic countdown clock on her website, showcasing a timer counting down to 2pm Eastern Time (2am, Singapore time) atop a red curtain.
Is the backdrop a hint that the new single is related to her last studio album, The Life Of A Showgirl? Swifties have not been able to Shake It Off, since little is known about the single now.
Swift’s fans have been keeping their Eyes Open since the star appeared in a pre-recorded sketch at the Emmy Awards on Sept 14, which included several nuggets that fans, who know her All Too Well, speculated to be hints for a possible new release.
In the sketch, she mentioned the phrases “Saccharide. Aries. From the vineyard. North or south”, which fans then unscrambled and deduced that they meant “Hi my first record’s re-record is out Nov Ten. Ahahaha”.
Whether Patient Zero is set to be a standalone solo track, a single teasing an upcoming new album, or part of a deluxe version of her previous project The Life Of A Showgirl, has yet to be confirmed officially.
Swift typically releases a new album once every two years, with The Life Of A Showgirl dropping in October 2025. She also recently moved away from her traditional strategy of dropping pre-release lead singles after ME! from her 2019 album Lover, preferring instead to release an entire album at once alongside a simultaneous focus track.