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Ed Sheeran appears to have spilled the beans on when Taylor Swift is going to drop her long anticipated sixth studio album.
In a new interview with the BBC, Sheeran casually discussed his close friend Swift’s planned Christmas time album release – despite Taylor herself never having announced a date for the follow-up to 1989.
“Taylor isn’t going to be releasing until probably the end of this year,” the Shape Of You singer said.
“Christmas is the smartest time to release because that’s when everyone buys records,” he continued, adding that another year without Taylor on the charts would be good for his own music sales. “So I’ve got a full year of just all Ed, all the time.”
Taylor and Ed became friends about five years ago when introduced by their managers, and in 2013 he supported her on her Red album tour, where they pushed through the romance rumours and proved their relationship is purely platonic.
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Knowing how close they are, it’s not surprising the Shake It Off singer might have confided in Sheeran. But whether today’s revelation is an accidental slip-up or a planned PR move – we wouldn’t put it past Taylor – is anyone’s guess, at least for now.
In 2016 Taylor broke her pattern of releasing a new album every two years around October for the first time, leaving her loyal fans with their longest ever drought of Taylor tunes. The Fifty Shades Darker theme song I Don’t Wanna Live Forever released in February, which she collaborated on with Zayn Malik has given fans some relief, but if Ed Sheeran knows anything, that’s all they’ll be getting until Christmas.
It’s plausible Taylor could be using a deliberate-leak-through-a-friend strategy as a way to build buzz. Gigi Hadid recently confirmed that Taylor was working on new music, telling Entertainment Tonight when Swift sat front row to watch her at a Tommy Hilfigher runway show in September “She’s obviously such a great friend, and you know she is starting to go back to work in the studio again, and really made time to be here for me, and I am so grateful for that.”
So why not just announce it? The intense focus on Taylor last year following her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, split from Calvin Harris and whirlwind, globetrotting romance with Tom Hiddleston could have Swift and her camp worry she’s overexposed, and so subtle leaks rather than a big announcement could be the way to begin building hype without it seeming like Taylor is courting attention.
Or, Ed Sheeran could just be a big blabber mouth. Maybe don’t tell him your deepest, darkest secrets if you ever get the chance.
