Are you ready for it?
After teasing fans on Friday with a date — April 26 — shared to her social media accounts and a countdown clock on her website ticking down to the mysterious day, Taylor Swift offered more clues that something big is on the horizon for her beloved Swifties.
On Sunday the 29-year-old Grammy winner posted another pastel-hued photo: a closeup of her brightly manicured hands, decked out with numerous colorful rings, resting on her yellow double-breasted blazer. The image bears the caption “4.26,” again referencing to date of the countdown.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Apr 14, 2019 at 11:26am PDT
She followed up the post with another image shared on Monday morning, this one showing what appears to be bright pink tulle. The caption is identical to the previous two Instagrams: “4.26.”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Apr 15, 2019 at 5:30am PDT
The social media activity, which began at midnight on Friday with an image of a jeweled heart, has stoked speculation that new music is coming shortly.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Apr 13, 2019 at 8:39am PDT
Fans around the world — including in Japan and Melbourne — have spotted billboards bearing the same aesthetic as her social media posts. They bear the URL “aprilTwentySix.com,” which redirects to the countdown clock on Swift’s website.
If it is indeed a single that is dropped on that date, Swift’s new music will be her first since leaving her longtime home Big Machine Label Group and moving over to Republic Records and Universal Music Group.
Fans — who understandably began freaking out — have been speculating for weeks that Swift was gearing up to release her seventh studio album.
TAYLOR ALISON SWIFT IS COMING TO SAVE THE ENTIRE MUSIC INDUSTRY ON APRIL 26 EVERYBODY MARK YOUR CALENDARS GET READY 2019 IS HER YEAR TS7 LETS GOOOO pic.twitter.com/MrN195TKkB
— aurora | april 26 (@olicitybaby) April 13, 2019
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Me going on about my hype for Star Wars Episode IX until I see Taylor Swift's Insta bio changed to "4.26" pic.twitter.com/M4uwYBRAhp
— 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕚𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕋𝕊𝟟 (@shippingdelight) April 13, 2019
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YOU ALL DONT UNDERSTAND MY EXCITEMENT
I can’t @taylorswift13 thank you for making me THE HAPPIEST GIRL ALIVE
pic.twitter.com/OWqUVyZHLZ
— Tatiana #TS7 APRIL 26(!!!!!!) (@swifties_col) April 13, 2019
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OMFG
4.26 @taylorswift13 @taylornation13 pic.twitter.com/i1cYk1Bk6e
— kayla.
TS7
(@TweeterbugKayla) April 13, 2019
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In late February, Swift posted several Instagram photos that stirred up plenty of excitement among Swifties hoping for new music. She was also photographed several times recently visiting a recording studio.
RELATED: Taylor Swift Nabs Multiple Kids’ Choice Awards Nominations Amid Buzz She’s Releasing a New Album
Then at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 14, the singer addressed the speculation while accepting the award for tour of the year.
“I love your passion, I love your attention to detail, I love how much you care. I love seeing all the things you’re posting online. I just wanted to let you know that when there is new music, you will be the first to know,” she cheekily told the audience.
View this post on InstagramShe just read all the theories
A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Feb 27, 2019 at 9:20am PST
During her last album cycle, Swift hit back at critics of her reputation through her music. Reclaiming the snake — the star’s social media pages were flooded with the reptile after Kim Kardashian West released an edited phone call between the singer and her husband — the superstar went on to smash records with her sixth studio album and world tour.
After staying mostly under the radar for months and wiping her social media pages, Swift returned to the public but kept her personal life (including a happy relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn) tightly under wraps.
RELATED VIDEO: Taylor Swift Explains Her Latest Album Is All About ‘Finding Love Throughout All the Noise’
“A couple of years ago, someone called me a snake on social media and it caught on. And then a lot of people called me a lot of names on social media,” Swift told her audience on the opening night of her tour in Arizona last year. “And I went through some really low times for a while because of it. I went through some times when I didn’t know if I was gonna get to do this anymore and I guess the snakes … I wanted to send a message to you guys that if someone uses name calling to bully you on social media and even if a lot of people jump on board with it, that doesn’t have to beat you. It can strengthen you instead.”
