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Taylor Swift Says She Hid the Title of Her New Album in Her 'ME!' Video


Taylor Swift drowned the Internet in a wave of butterflies and rainbows when she dropped her new video for”ME!,” featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco. The second it dropped, fans started analyzing every frame for potential clues about her upcoming music, and Swift just added fuel to the fire: She shared on Twitter that the video is actually hiding the name of her seventh album.

“So… the new album title is actually revealed somewhere in the video AND so is the title of the second single, but I haven’t seen people finding them yet…,” she wrote on Friday just hours after “ME!” dropped online. Swifties almost immediately started putting forth their theories, but she hasn’t confirmed any of them yet.

Lots of people have latched onto the word “Lover,” which appears in neon letters in the background of one scene. Some think the clue is too easy to be the album title and have instead hypothesized that “Lover” is the name of her next single. Others really dived into detective work and found a pair of teeny-tiny white letters at the bottom of a different scene; super-tight zooming suggests that they spell out the phrase “pattern design.”

“Taylor really had me working all my ocular muscles and almost ruining my retinas just so i can read ‘pattern design” im tired,’ one fan joked on Twitter.

But quite a few of the Swifities seem to think that the album name has more to do with the video’s over-the-top, Lisa Frank-esque swirl of colors, which sometimes look like they’re blending together kaleidoscope-style. There’s a part in the video where the lens turns into a heart-shaped kaleidoscope, and extra-diligent fans noted that the word “kaleidoscope” is also a term for a pack of butterflies (the more you know). Swift has been leaning on the butterfly theme pretty heavily, too: They’re all over this video, and she posed in front of a butterfly mural just before the song came out.

Everyone will have to wait to see if they were right, but there is one theory that Swift did confirm: Many believed that the video was a chance for her to introduce a new addition to her family. In one scene, Urie hands her a kitten.

Swift went on Instagram Friday and shared that she actually did get a new cat. “And then there were three…” she captioned a photo. This, at least, is proof that the theories Swifties come up with are sometimes exactly right.



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Beyoncé Just Dropped a Surprise Live Album, and People Are Freaking Out


Happy Bey Day, everyone! As expected, Beyoncé‘s highly-anticipated documentary, Homecoming, is now streaming on Netflix. The doc takes us all inside the preparation for her iconic 2018 Coachella performance, a tribute to the historically black colleges and universities in America. But because Beyoncé is Beyoncé, she also decided to drop a surprise album in the middle of the night, as well.

Homecoming: The Live Album contains 40 tracks and is now available on all major streaming platforms. It’s basically a live greatest hits album with bangers like “Diva,” “Run the World,” “Lose My Breath,” “Crazy in Love,” and more making up the track list. The real joy, though, is that this is yet another way to experience the magic of what became known as Beychella. It’s also the first solo album that Bey has released since 2016’s Lemonade. (She and Jay-Z released Everything Is Love together last summer during their global tour.)

And the album art is something to behold, naturally:

Obviously, the Beyhive was beyond pumped about the surprise album and the documentary. In fact, Homecoming is already topping the iTunes charts. “The concept, arrangements/remixes, dance, her voice,” one fan wrote. “Beyoncè has gotten to the point where she could put out mediocre shit and people would still eat it up but she’d never do that. She’s always gonna bang out visuals, intricate dance moves and amazing vocals.” Another tweeted, “The biggest artist in the world is a black woman & she’s killing it how can you not like #Beyoncé.” While one social media user pointed out the power of Beyoncé in dropping a surprise album of old music in the middle of the week and having it go immediately to the top of the chart.

See more reactions, below:

Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to go stream Homecoming on a loop forever.





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Lady Gaga's New Album: Everything We Know So Far


Lady Gaga shut down rumors she’s pregnant on Twitter Tuesday night (March 12) by announcing something even bigger: She’s hard at work on her sixth studio album. “Rumors I’m pregnant? Yeah, I’m pregnant with #LG6,” she tweeted, to the delight of her 78.2 million followers. Granted, Gaga has said in the past she’s working on new music, but this is the first time she’s called it #LG6, which suggests the project is nearing completion and release.

This will be Lady Gaga‘s first solo album since 2016’s Joanne, which polarized fans with its acoustic, stripped-down sound—a far cry from the splashy, electro-pop hits that made her a household name. Details surrounding #LG6 are few and far between. Gaga’s only talked about it generally—but this hasn’t stopped fans from coming up with plenty of theories. Here’s everything we know about the new album so far. Of course, we’ll update this post with more information as it comes in.

The release date. Gaga hasn’t officially announced this yet, but fans can expect the record to drop this year—possibly within the next few months. The singer doesn’t return to Las Vegas for her Enigma residency until late May, so now seems like the perfect opportunity to tee up an album.

The sound. Shortly after announcing #LG6 on Twitter, Gaga followed Rihanna and the producer BloodPop on Instagram, fueling rumors there are collaborations in the works. Gaga keeps up with only 40 people on Instagram—a mix of close friends and people she’s worked with—which is why the Rihanna follow is a big deal.

BloodPop worked with Gaga on several songs for Joanne, but his production discography spans genres, so it’s unclear what kind of music they’re cooking up (if any). Meanwhile, fans have been inkling for a RiRi feature ever since she tweeted lyrics to Gaga’s song “Sexxx Dreams” back in 2013. From that alone, diehards gauged Rihanna and Gaga were coming up with a remix to”Sexxx Dreams.” To say their collaboration is overdue would be an understatement.

In July 2018, the cutting-edge electronic DJ Sophie revealed she was working with Gaga on her new record. “Yes,” she said when a fan asked her. “Whatever, you know. I’m working on a lot of different things. If it comes out, that’s cool.”

Justin Tranter, who’s produced hits for Selena Gomez, Britney Spears, and Gwen Stefani, was also spotted in the studio with Gaga in May 2018:

I also wouldn’t be surprised if Mark Ronson, Gaga’s Joanne and “Shallow collaborator, made his way onto #LG6, as well. Boys Noize, the German electronic producer, is also rumored to be on the album.

What Gaga has said about the new album. In November 2017, Gaga told Entertainment Weekly she’d started on #LG6. “I’ve started writing,” she said. “I have a lot of ideas and a lot of things I want to create, so you’ll see in a bit. I need some time to create.” She confirmed to Vogue in October 2018 that new music was in the works too.

The songs. Entertainment Weekly reports in November 2017, Gaga previewed a song either called ““Frankenstein” or “Frankensteined” for fans that was supposedly new material. Of course, it’s very possible this was just an experiment that will end up on the cutting room floor.

ARTPOP could be a major influence. Gaga’s 2013 ARTPOP record was unjustly crucified despite it being one of her most energetic and cohesive offerings to date. It’s quite likely #LG6 will recall that era in more ways than one. DJ White Shadow (real name Paul Blair), a frequent Gaga collaborator, is said to be involved with #LG6, and even called the project ARTPOP‘s “little sister.” “For all her flaws, strangeness and beauty, I thank you ARTPOP for the lessons learned and the gifts you gave. Happy 4th Birthday. I can’t wait to introduce you to your little sister,” he posted to Instagram, according to EW.



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Ariana Grande's 'Thank U, Next' Album: Everything We Know So Far


We’re not even two weeks into the new year, and Ariana Grande is already breaking the Internet. The pop star did that quite a bit last year, whether it was with her song “Thank U, Next,” her relationship with Pete Davidson, or just, ya know, breathing. And 2019 is shaping up to be just as big. Not only is she headlining Coachella in April—she’ll be the fourth female and youngest person ever to do it—but new music is on the way. First up is the new song “7 Rings,” which Grande dropped on Friday (January 18).

The backstory of the song is interesting: Grande explained on Twitter that she and her six friends Vic, Courtney, Alexa, Tayla, Njomza, and Kaydence were having a “rough day” in New York City when they decided to hit Tiffany & Co. for a pick-me-up. (You know, as all rich people do.) “We had too much champagne. I bought us all rings,” Grande tweeted. “It was very insane and funny. And on the way back to the [studio], Njomza was like, ‘Bitch, this gotta be a song.’ So we wrote it that afternoon.”

As for the actual song, it’s a riff on “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music and celebrates friendship and money. Have a listen, and watch the pink-tastic video, for yourself, below:

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Meanwhile, Grande’s Thank U, Next album is still shrouded in secrecy. Here’s everything we know so far:

1. The title. Grande confirmed it on November 3, when she revealed the phrase “Thank U, Next”—which she’d been tweeting a lot at that time—was both a song and album name.

2. The vibe. Billboard described the new sound as “deep, bass-driven bangers with trap beats alternating with airy, sad ballads.”

3. The track list. Three songs have been confirmed thus far: “Thank U, Next,” “7 Rings,” and “Imagine,” which was released as a promotional single.

4. It’s sad. But that doesn’t mean it’s slow. “A lot of it sounds really upbeat, but it’s actually a super-sad chapter,” she tells Billboard. “This [album’s] not particularly uplifting.”

5. Champagne helped make the record. Grande says Thank U, Next was the product of a lot of “feminine energy and champagne and music and laughter and crying,” according to Billboard.

6. There are no collaborations on the album. This will be Grande’s first album to feature just her.

7. The album is finished. Though Grande said she keeps “writing things she wants to add.” She teased the release would be at the end of 2018, so fans should definitely expect to hear it this year. Hopefully on the sooner side.

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Madonna's MDNA Is the Ultimate Divorce Album


“It wasn’t always perfect, but it wasn’t always bad,” Madonna sings on “Best Friend,” a haunting slow-jam from her 2012 album MDNA. The song is technically only available on the “deluxe” version of the record, but that doesn’t make it any less potent. In fact, of all the tracks on MDNA presumably about Madonna’s divorce from Guy Ritchie—and there are several —”Best Friend” is the most devastating. Not since Ray of Light has Madonna been this transparent in her work. “Your picture’s off my wall, but I’m still waiting for your call,” she continues. “And every man that walks through that door will be compared to you forever more.”

These lyrics are simple, but they perfectly illustrate one of the stages of divorce: grief, mourning the loss of a relationship you thought would last forever. Full disclosure: I’ve never been divorced, but I imagine this is a key step in the healing process. It’s also probably the hardest, which gives “Best Friend” even more resonance.

Couple this with the fact that Madonna is notoriously closed-off. Any sign of vulnerability from her is novel, so for her to release a song like “Best Friend”—with lyrics like “I miss your brain, the way you think; but I don’t miss the way you used to drink”—is jarring, to say the least. It shows no one is immune to the pain of divorce, not even the Queen of Pop.

“Best Friend” is, in many ways, the pinnacle of MDNA, which Rolling Stone dubbed a “disco-fied divorce record” upon its release in March 2012. To be clear, the album makes no direct reference to Ritchie, but it’s obvious he’s the inspiration. It’s the first album Madonna released following her 2008 separation from the British filmmaker, and dozens of its lyrics explicitly discuss marriage.

“There are lyrics in here about custody and prenups and, ‘How’d you end up with all my jack?’ Did you get a lot off your chest there?” journalist Harry Smith asked Madonna in 2012 about MDNA. ” Her response? “Yes, I did.”

That’s certainly an understatement. MDNA is, without a doubt, one of the most poignant divorce albums in contemporary music. It’s EDM-oriented, sure, but Madonna’s always been her most profound in a throbbing nightclub at 3 A.M. Underneath the swirling beats of William Orbit, Benny Benassi, and the other techno maestros who helped craft MDNA is a woman trying to make sense of her marriage ending.

PHOTO: Interscope

On some songs, like “Best Friend,” that takes a somber form, but MDNA explores virtually all the emotional stages of divorce. “Girl Gone Wild,” for example, is a euphoric, four-on-the-floor ode to releasing your inhibitions after years of suppression. “I’ve got that burning hot desire; no one can put out my fire,” Madonna sings before the crashing, sledgehammer chorus kicks in. “I’m like a girl gone wild! A good girl gone wild,” she later exclaims as a pulsating bass-line fully envelopes her.

It’s an unapologetically self-indulgent anthem, filled to the brim with ecstasy, joy, and freedom. At first listen “GGW” may seem like a shallow dance track, but it absolutely reflects the relief in leaving a suffocating relationship. “There were times when I felt incarcerated,” Madonna said in 2015 about her marriage to Ritchie. “I wasn’t really allowed to be myself.” “Girl Gone Wild” is all about reclaiming that identity. “Turn Up the Radio” and “I’m Addicted,” two more exuberant songs on MDNA, evoke this same feeling.

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On the opposite end of the spectrum is “Gang Bang,” the album’s second track and perhaps Madonna’s most experimental since “Justify My Love.” Made on the tail-end of top 40’s dubstep craze, Madonna sing-talks here about shooting her lover in the head. “Bang-bang, shot ya dead,” she snarls against a grimy, thumping beat. This is Madonna’s Angry Divorce Song, and it goes there. “I thought it was you, and I loved you the most. But I was just keeping my enemies close,” she says. “Made a decision I will never look back, so how did you end up with all of my jack?” Her disdain is crystal-clear—even when it’s buried in synths.

“Jack” is most likely a reference to the $76 million settlement Ritchie received in his and Madonna’s divorce. They never signed a pre-nuptial agreement—something explored more directly on two other songs. “Gang Bang,” though, is five minutes and 26 seconds of pure rage, climaxing with a gun shot and this controversial statement: “If you’re ‘gonna act like a bitch, then you’re ‘gonna die like a bitch.” The violence is metaphorical, of course, but the anger is real. Madonna confirmed it in 2012 while promoting the song: “Je suis énervé,” she also told Harry Smith. Translation: I am angry.

But it’s a fleeting emotion. Anger is almost always just a shield for sadness—and that rings true on MDNA, too. Any aggression Madonna feels about her divorce—on this album, at least—is flushed out by melancholia. She’s grieving on “Best Friend”; realizing her mistakes on “I Fucked Up” (“Maybe I should’ve turned silver into gold, but in front of you I was cold”); and wishing for a different outcome on “Love Spent.” That last song uses money—most likely the money Ritchie walked away with in their settlement—as a metaphor for Madonna’s heartache. “I want you to hold me like you hold your money,” she sings. “Hold me in your arms until there’s nothing left.”

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Madonna eventually finds peace on “I Don’t Give A,” a song smack-dab in the middle of MDNA, in which she raps most of the words. Cringe factor aside, “I Don’t Give A” shows Madonna reconciling all those aforementioned emotions—rage, grief, relief—and emerging on the other side completely content. “Wake up ex-wife, this is your life,” she sings before lamenting about lawyers, custody agreements, and prenups. Ultimately, however, she decrees, “I’m ‘gonna be OK. I don’t care what the people say.” That’s a conclusion hopefully most people reach after a divorce—no matter how ugly it gets. The song is a kitschy send-off to Madonna’s haters—the ones who thought her split from Ritchie would somehow break her. “‘Gonna live fast and I’m gonna live right,” she says in the chorus. And she’s still doing that in 2018. She survived.

The DNA of MDNA is catharsis—that’s what makes it such a brilliant divorce record. Country albums like Willie Nelson’s Phases and Stages croon about heartbreak, yes, but they’re one-note. Divorce, however, is an amalgamation of feeling: elation, betrayal, depression, numbness, fury—the list goes on and on. Madonna hits all of those points on MDNA and then-some. Truthfully, you’ll finish the album with emotional whiplash—but isn’t that divorce? Isn’t that life? Thankfully, Madonna reached her happy place, and her harrowing journey from darkness to light is something many divorced people can relate to. Who knows? Maybe a few of them even found their salvation exactly where she did: on the dance floor.

Christopher Rosa is the staff entertainment writer for Glamour.



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Fifth Harmony's Ally Brooke on Making Her First Solo Album


Becoming a solo artist has been an incredible new chapter of my life. After Fifth Harmony, I felt a mix of so many emotions—but most of all, I felt excited about what was to come next. For the first time in my career, I feel like I genuinely have the power to collaborate with who I want, and I’m contributing ideas to a strong, healthy team. To finally be in control is so important to me because this is my career. These are the songs my voice will be heard through.

One of the most exciting moments in this chapter happened after my team came to me in early September with the idea of hosting an all-female writing camp. I had been recording for most of the summer in a very male-dominated industry, so being able to switch gears and get a bunch of women together sounded amazing. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve always felt respected by the male songwriters and producers I’ve worked with, and we’ve had a blast together. But there’s nothing quite like the female energy, is there?

This is my career. These are the songs my voice will be heard through.

So we set up a two-day camp at Glenwood Studios later that month with about 15 talented and diverse female engineers, producers, and songwriters. Everyone had different backgrounds, stories, and credits to their name, but we all arrived with the same intentions: to uplift each other, to make our community stronger, and to highlight how beautiful it is for women to band together.

I hadn’t worked with anyone in the camp before, so we started by going around the room over lunch and introducing ourselves. We spoke about why we got into music, and I was moved by everyone’s stories. One of the engineers revealed that she’s a professional tango dancer; another producer talked about how she almost went into accounting. When my time came to speak, I opened up about how much I had learned during my time in Fifth Harmony—and all the experiences I wanted to talk about now that I’m on my own.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Atlantic Records

After we finished introductions, everyone split into two rooms. I went into Studio B first and recorded the most vulnerable record I’ve ever done. There were six of us in the room starting completely from scratch, but one of the producers picked up a guitar, played a chord, and the song just took off from there. We were sharing our raw emotions with each other, and it felt like we were all connected. It was empowering to be in that space, to be surrounded by women actually embracing and lifting each other up. There were no egos, no hidden agendas, nobody wanting to take all the credit. It was so powerful to be in a session where I felt I could be myself. I felt safe enough to be vulnerable.

There were no egos, no hidden agendas, nobody wanting to take all the credit.

The song came out beautifully, and I’m so proud to have cowritten it. It’s self-reflective, inspired by the honest emotions that we all share as women. I can’t wait to share it.

This is why I think it’s imperative that women support other women. We’re such powerful beings. We love hard. We possess so much feeling inside of us. We work hard and chase our dreams. Imagine what we can achieve when we come together. There are so many women—not just in my industry—who need our help and our voices. We should be friends to one another, and it breaks my heart when we aren’t kind to our own. I’ve experienced it, and it’s terrible. It cuts you deep. Working with the amazing women at the writing camp reminded me that we’re all unique and have something incredible to offer. When we come together, we can change the world.

Brooke is currently working on her debut solo album for Atlantic records.

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