Love, life, music & baking: Taylor Swift explains it all and more on ‘New Heights’ podcast

In her 20-year career, Taylor Swift has never done an interview with a boyfriend, let alone an in-depth one where she talked about their relationship. That’s what she gave fans in her appearance on Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce‘s New Heights podcast Wednesday night — and so much more.

Of course, Taylor was on the podcast to promote her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, due Oct. 3. Produced by Max Martin and Shellback, with whom she hasn’t worked since Reputation, the album features 12 tracks and only 12 tracks: Taylor swore she’s not going to drop an extra 20 songs a few hours later.

“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during [the Eras Tour], which was so exuberant, and electric and vibrant,” she said. She recorded it while she was on the Eras Tour, flying back and forth to Stockholm, Sweden, to work with Martin and Shellback.

“I essentially said to [Martin], ‘I wanna be … as proud of an album as I am of the Eras Tour and for the same reasons,'” Taylor revealed.

“This is the record I’ve been wanting to make for a very long time,” she stated. “I care about this record more than I can even overstate.” Travis added that he’s heard every song, saying it comprises “12 bangers” and describing it as “a lot more upbeat and a lot more fun pop excitement — a complete 180 from the songs on Tortured Poets, for sure.”

The theme of the album, Taylor said, is “everything that was going on behind the curtain” during the tour, noting that the cover of the album depicts her at the end of the show, when she would literally be in a bathtub recovering.

Her goals for the album were “melodies that were so infectious that you’re almost angry at it. And lyrics that are just as vivid, but crisp, and focused and completely intentional.”

In addition to the new music, Taylor discussed how her relationship with Travis began and how it unfolded, buying back her master recordings, the “granny” hobbies she’s taken up since the tour’s end, her father’s health after his recent quintuple bypass surgery, how she became a crazed football fan and lots more. Here are a few takeaways:

On how Travis shouting her out on the podcast led to their romance: “I was like, if this guy isn’t crazy, which is a big if, this is sort of what I’ve been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager.” She also described him as “a human exclamation point” and a “vibe booster.”

On her and Travis’ similarities: “Our job is to entertain people for three-plus hours in NFL stadiums. Like, when I’m there, it’s called a dressing room. When Travis is there, it’s called a locker room.”

On whether fans should now listen to her original albums or her rerecordings: “It’s really whatever you guys want. … If you found a nostalgia in the originals and that was what you were listening to when you were 12 years old, bopping around in your bedroom, go crazy. We got ’em all!”

Taylor also spoke at length about:

–Her obsession with baking sourdough bread

–Travis’ obsession with wanting an otter as a pet

–Why Red is her favorite rerecording

–Why her favorite Eras Tour moment involved the song “Willow”

You can watch it all on YouTube now.