The Tortured Poets Department producer Aaron Dessner praises Taylor Swift's songwriting talents

Aaron Dessner has praised Taylor Swift following the release of her new album 'The Tortured Poets Department' admitting he is "continually astonished by her skills as a songwriter and performer".
The National guitarist co-produced and co-wrote several songs on Taylor's 11th studio LP, which came out on Friday (19.04.24) and he took to his Instagram account to praise his "dear friend" on her achievement.
He posted: "I'm so excited and honored to share that I have contributed to my dear friend and collaborator @taylorswift's brilliant 11th album - a 31 song double album / anthology called The Tortured Poets Department. We started working on these songs over two years ago and it feels like they have kept us company and evolved in beautiful and unexpected ways through so much life lived during this process ... 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."
Aaron, 47, first worked with Taylor, 34, on her eighth studio album 'Folklore', released in July 2020, and in his post he admitted that he will be forever be "grateful to Taylor" for trusting him with her music.
He added: "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. I am forever grateful to Taylor for sharing her insane talents with and trusting me with her music.
"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. Keep searching and you'll find some new detail, layer or sliver of meaning with each listen."
Dessner also worked with Taylor on her ninth studio LP 'Evermore', released in December 2020, but did not contribute to 10th studio album 'Midnights' which came out in October 2022.
The musician previously described the 'Anti-Hero' hitmaker as "one of the greatest songwriters of all time".
In a 2023 interview with PEOPLE, he said: "I think Taylor is one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
"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.
Taylor released 'The Tortured Poets Department' at midnight and then two hours later - a time she had dropped hints about multiple times in the week prior to release - she stunned fans by revealing the project is actually a double album.
She wrote on Instagram: "It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album. I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours."