“A message from the department” was livestreamed by Taylor Swift from Singapore. With no explanation, a mashup of “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” and “Dress” — both originally released during the pop star’s Reputation era — could be viewed directly from Swift’s official Instagram account by fans around the world on Saturday (March 2).
The stream went live during the surprise song set, or as Swift called it, the “crazy acoustic section,” of the first of six Eras Tour dates in Singapore — the portion of the concert where he plays a couple surprise songs (or, lately, mashups). She will go on to perform at the Singapore National Stadium on March 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9.
As the stream happened, Swifties noticed that the official Taylor Swift webstore was blacked out. Visitors could not access the store, which was closed for a period of time, without a site admin’s password, leaving fans wondering whether something new was about about to launch for sale. At press time, her webstore is up and running, with no new products.
Trending on Billboard
The “a message from the department” message that popped up along with the livestream is a reference to Swift’s upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, coming on April 19. The message was ended with a black heart.
Swift has already announced three variants of the album, each featuring a different bonus track: “The Manuscript,” “The Bolter” and “The Albatross.” She revealed “The Bolter” and “The Albatross” editions at previous tour dates in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. Fans guessed another announcement might have been made at the first Singapore concert of the tour — maybe a fourth bonus song — but no announcement was made.
And given her choice of songs to perform and livestream (and the fact that only this mashup was streamed, not her full acoustic set), Swifties theorized that the Easter egg-loving musician might have been giving some Reputation-related signs from Singapore.
“I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” is Swift’s duet with Zayn Malik that was first released in December 2016 and included on the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack when it dropped in February 2017.
“Dress” is track No. 12 on Swift’s sixth studio album, Reputation, released in November 2017.
So far Swift has released the “Taylor’s Version” of all of the albums she’s expected to re-record except for Reputation and her debut, self-titled album. No release date has been announced for either re-recording yet.
Just before the “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever”/”Dress” mashup in Singapore, Swift performed a mashup of Speak Now opener “Mine” and Red track “Starlight” on guitar that was not livestreamed on her official account, but captured by others at the stadium. Watch both mashups in the clips below.