Taylor Swift has announced that her forthcoming seventh album is called Lover.

The pop star, 29, broke the news with a post to her 118 million Instagram followers in which she confirmed the record’s release date as August 23.

She wrote: “Lover, album out August 23. Cover shot by the artistic genius that is @valheria123. Pre-add, pre-save, pre-order (all the pre stuff you feel like doing) Can’t wait for you to hear this.”

She also suggested her next single You Need To Calm Down would drop on Thursday overnight, while an accompanying music video would arrive on June 17.

In April, Swift set her fans a challenge after confirming the title of her new album was contained in the music video for latest single Me.

Me, an upbeat track featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco, was Swift’s first new music since the 2017 album Reputation.

Graham Norton Show – 23rd May – London
Taylor Swift performs on the Graham Norton Show (Matt Crossick/PA)

Its accompanying music video achieved 33 million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours and spawned plenty of articles dissecting it for clues for the upcoming album.

However, the title Lover remained a mystery among even her most avid fans.

Earlier this month, the pop siren broke a long-held silence on political matters to urge listeners to send letters to their senators calling for them to back a pro-LGBT law in the US called the Equality Act.

The act would introduce laws to protect the LGBT community, by adding sexual orientation and gender identity as outlawed forms of discrimination.