“Lover” seems to start there, before indicating that Swift is ready to move on. The first track, “I Forgot That You Existed,” was written with Louis Bell and Frank Dukes, the production and songwriting team behind hits for Post Malone and Lorde, and appears to allude to West with lyrics like, “Free rent living in my mind/but then something happened one magical night/I forgot that you existed.”

Bell and Dukes are credited writers on two other tracks (“Afterglow,” “It’s Nice to Have a Friend”), while the bulk of the additional writing and production comes from Swift’s frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff. Other guests include Annie Clark, also known as St. Vincent (guitars and a songwriting credit on “Cruel Summer”), and the Kendrick Lamar-affiliated producer Sounwave (“London Boy”), both of whom have worked with Antonoff in the past.

The album was recorded largely in New York, at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan, and features numerous geographic shout-outs to the area, as well as to London, the home of Swift’s boyfriend, the actor Joe Alwyn.

Songs written solely by Swift include “Lover,” “Cornelia Street,” and the album-closer, “Daylight”; she is also credited as a co-producer on every track, and as the executive producer of the album. Notably absent are the Swedish hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback, who have appeared on Swift’s three previous albums dating back to “Red” in 2012.