Are Taylor Swift Fourth of July Photos Hints for Album 1989?

At midnight on July 7, Taylor Swift released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) — the long-awaited rerecording of her third album, released in 2010. Less than 12 hours after Swift fed her fans the nostalgia they were craving, she caused yet another frenzy with an Instagram post. Swifties and people with Ph.D.s in pop culture already know that Swift’s star-studded Fourth of July parties have been a Thing since 2013. Rocket pops are always present; Selena Gomez is usually there, too; and the Instagram posts are iconic without fail. But Swifties have been devoid of any Taymerica posts since 2016, when Tom Hiddleston wore the “I ❤️ T.S.” tank that altered the course of United States–United Kingdom relations. Maybe she celebrated the holiday privately, but it wasn’t until the morning of July 7, 2023, that she publicly revived the gathering. The post has three slides, which feature a picture of her and her friends on the grass, some Polaroids (cue “Welcome to New York”), and a solo picture of blondie with red lips and rosy cheeks in a blue dress. “Happy belated Independence Day from your local neighborhood independent girlies 😎” she wordsmithed. “See you tonight Kansas Cityyy.” It’s her first post that wasn’t directly tied to a birthday or business since October 31, 2021, where she reminded us all that she is a millennial and posted her squirrel Halloween costume with the caption, “can’t talk right now, I’m doin hot squirrel shit 🐿.” Swifties know that the mastermind does nothing by accident, and some fans think these neighborhood independent girlies are hinting at 1989 (Taylor’s Version), a reentrance into her girl-group era, and a Taylena collab.

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

Sprinkled throughout the patriotic post is the famous trio of singing sisters — Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim (yes, she’s also that girl from Licorice Pizza, who is also named … Alana). Prominent characters in the Taylor Swift cinematic universe, especially in recent years, they were in the “Bejeweled” music video, which hinted at Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) as the next rerecorded album, and were featured on Evermore’s “no body, no crime.” It’s not their first Swiftian Fourth of July and definitely not the last time the sisters will be spending summer days with Swift, as they are scheduled to open for the Eras tour later this summer. Another Swift-nic goer is Ashley Avignone, a stylist and longtime friend of Swift. She’s been featured in many a photo with Swift and was even among other Swift associates, like Blake Lively and Gigi Hadid, in that photo of Swift and her girls walking the streets of NYC earlier this year. Also present was Sydney Ness, a model rumored to be Austin Swift’s girlfriend since 2022. Of course, most notably, Selena Gomez was there, front and center. This picture has fans hoping that Gomez might finally come out with some new music soon, maybe even the long-awaited collaboration between the two pop stars, who have been friends since 2008 and have never performed together. Paired with the rewrite of the infamous “Better Than Revenge” lyric, maybe Swift is reentering her girls’ girl era — or maybe she’s just working on her next album.

In the second slide of the post, there are four Polaroids. In the fandom, Polaroids are synonymous with 1989, since the album cover itself was a Polaroid. Her red lips and blue dress in the last slide of the Instagram post point to 1989 being next, as the album’s color is light blue and “Wildest Dreams” features the line “red lips and rosy cheeks.” But in true Swift style, she has not let her fans out of the woods yet and will likely be a blank space of information as Swifties fight to not have bad blood with the singer over the lack of information and just focus on this love they have for their queen as they wait for her next album.