Aaron Dessner Celebrates Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: ‘Continually Astonished by Her Skills’
Aaron Dessner is officially part of Taylor Swift’s latest era!
On April 19, The National musician, 47, shared a post on Instagram confirming that he’s a producer on Swift’s latest 31-song double album — The Tortured Poets Department, released Friday at midnight, Eastern Time.
Sharing that he’s “so excited and honored” to be a part of the pop superstar’s 11th studio album, Dessner revealed that the pair started working on the record’s songs over two years ago. “It feels like they have kept us company and evolved in beautiful and unexpected ways through so much life lived during this process,” he penned, adding that “it’s hard to believe Taylor and I have now recorded over 60 songs together (17 across this anthology!!) in the 4 years since we began working together on Folklore in 2020.”
Dessner then went on to gush about being “forever grateful to Taylor for sharing her insane talents with and trusting me with her music.” “I believe these songs are some of the most lyrically acute, intricate, vulnerable and cathartic Taylor has ever written and I am continually astonished by her skills as a songwriter and performer,” he added.
Accompanying the words was a photo of Swift, who could be seen smiling in a recording studio while wearing a pair of headphones and a black sweater. Two album artworks for The Tortured Poets Department were also featured.
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The “So Long, London” singer, 34, hinted that Dessner was a producer on the album in an Instagram post on April 15. Swift was wearing black in the photo posted to her Instagram Grid, looking through the clear vinyl version of her album exclusively available at Target.
The sticker on the physical album was partially visible in the photo, and observant Swifties blew up the image on X (formerly Twitter) to reveal that the last few letters of Dessner’s name, “ESSNER” could be seen. The rest of his name was covered up by the album’s packaging.
“I wish I could un-recall how we almost had it all,” Swift captioned the post, also including pre-order information.
In his post on April 19, Dessner also shouted out Swift’s close friend and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff. “I also want to thank the incredible @jackantonoff for his open hearted and open door collaboration with me through all these many projects and all of my talented friends who continue to contribute generously to my work,” he added.
The musician then concluded his post by heaping more praise on Swift. “It’s not lost on me how lucky I am that this is my job and I feel so grateful to be a part of creating this vast, magically detailed and symbolic world of songs Taylor has crafted that we all get to inhabit and enjoy,” he wrote. “Keep searching and you’ll find some new detail, layer or sliver of meaning with each listen.
Dessner last worked with Swift on her critically acclaimed albums, Folklore and Evermore, which were both released in 2020.
“I think Taylor is one of the greatest songwriters of all time,” Dessner said of the “Karma” singer in a 2023 PEOPLE exclusive interview.
“The poetic and literary bent of her lyricism, where songs often have elaborately woven narratives and hidden meanings that connect to her earlier or future work, what her fans call ‘easter eggs,’ helps to create an entire artistic world that we all get to inhabit and obsess over as her fans,” he added.
The producer admitted that he only started listening to her music as a fan when he heard “Blank Space” on the radio in 2014 and was inspired to listen to 1989.
“Once I heard the entire record I remember just sensing that Taylor was some kind of incredibly rare unicorn of a singer and songwriter,” Dessner told PEOPLE.
Fans love Dessner and Swift’s collaborations, and the excitement when his involvement was hinted at was palpable on social media.
“WE GOT AARON DESSNER ON TTPD,” an X user replied to the photo, including a gif of Swift dancing and smiling at the 2024 Grammys, saluting someone with a drink.
