Matty Healy has broken his silence over his ex Taylor Swift’s new album, which contains several songs documenting their failed romance.
The pop singer released her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, last Friday – which includes a whopping 31 new songs.
Since its release, fans have been carefully dissecting the lyrics of each song, as the album is said to be inspired by her split from Joe Alwyn, and her whirlwind romance with The 1975 frontman.
Taylor’s shock split from Joe was confirmed in early 2023 after six years together, and she subsequently had a brief romance with Matty.
Taylor dated the British singer early last year, before she struck up a romance with her now-boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce.
While fans expected the album to be inspired entirely by her split from Joe, a number of songs appear to reference her relationship with Matty – including The Black Dog and Guilty As Sin.
Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) and The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived also seem to reference her brief tryst with the singer.
While Matty had remained silent when the album was released over the weekend, he has since commented on her new record.
When asked by a reporter from Entertainment Tonight what he thought of the “diss”, Matty replied: “I haven’t really listened to that much of it but I’m sure it’s good.”
While Taylor’s new album reflects on her past relationships with Joe and Matty, the 34-year-old has said that chapter of her life is now closed.
In a post shared on Instagram, she wrote: “The Tortured Poets Department. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure.”
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“This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted.
“This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.
“And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.”
The album contains a host of songs that are said to be about Taylor’s longterm beau Joe, the most poignant one being So Long, London.
The song appears at number five on the tracklist, the slot Taylor reserves for the most meaningful song on each of her albums.
Its title is a clear reference to her previous song London Boy from her album Lover, which she penned about her early romance with Joe and meeting his friends in the UK.
Fans also believe the songs Down Bad, But Daddy I Love Him, I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can), and I Can Do It With A Broken Heart are inspired by Joe.
It’s been widely speculated the album’s title is a reference to a WhatsApp group Joe shares with Irish actor Paul Mescal, who is the ex-boyfriend of Taylor’s friend Phoebe Bridgers.
In December 2022, the pals revealed they had a WhatsApp group with fellow actor Andrew Scott called The Tortured Man Club.
Paul and Joe have both appeared in TV adaptations of Sally Rooney’s novels Normal People and Conversations with Friends, respectively.
The album’s other song titles include Florida!!! (featuring Florence + The Machine), Clara Bow, and The Manuscript.
