Taylor Swift joins "Toy Story 5" with brand-new song

Taylor Swift—”I Knew It, I Knew You”

Fans suspected something was coming when a mysterious 47-hour countdown briefly appeared on the singer’s website in early May before being abruptly removed. The clouds featured in the background closely matched those seen in “Toy Story.”

A month of total silence followed, with fans questioning whether the whole thing had ever happened at all. That changed when billboards featuring a TS surrounded by 13 clouds began appearing. The clues finally came together on Monday with the official reveal that Swift had written an original song for the movie. On Instagram, she revealed that she created the song specifically for the character Jessie.

“Toy Story 5” VFX supervisor Thomas Jordan shared during a SXSW London panel that Swift wrote the song in February after watching an early cut of the film. The project was shrouded in secrecy until its announcement.

“The crew that made ‘Toy Story 5’ did not know about this secret until last week,” Jordan said.

The song sees Swift embrace her country roots once again, which feels especially fitting as she celebrates 20 years since her debut this year. It also marks a reunion between Swift and Jack Antonoff after the producer sat out her previous record, “The Life of a Showgirl.”

What we have here is Swift returning to the lyricism of her early days and pairing it with a refreshing production style that feels like the start of a new era for her. “I knew you through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer/Parachutes for the free fall of being younger,” she sings. It’s a breezy skip-step track that feels like it could finally bring Swift an Oscar nomination. That, however, will ultimately depend on how the movie itself does.

Madonna—”Love Sensation”

Madonna’s collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter raised the stakes for her return to pop. The unfortunate thing here is the inability to tell the two tracks apart.

On “Love Sensation,” the singer declares that there is nothing she and her muse cannot accomplish together. It’s a sweet song on paper and a fun dance beat in practice, but listeners are looking to Madonna for something bigger. When you name a record as a follow-up to something as great as “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” you need to follow through on the promise. We’ll still allow time for the song to grow on us, who knows?

Steve Lacy—”The Feeling”

The “Bad Habit” singer has offered the first look at his upcoming album, “Oh yeah?” which arrives on July 17.

“The Feeling” paints Lacy as a devotee to an endless wait for a love that remains out of reach. “Staring at your pictures, wishing that I was with you/Drunker than a bitch, sure'd be nice to kiss you/I could let it go, but I'm not a quitter,” he sings. There’s a romantic feel to it, and it genuinely is. Lacy wraps the lyrics in a smooth R&B beat.

Malcolm Todd—”Difficult Love”

He may seem like an overnight arrival, but the singer has been active for quite a while. His 2025 LP gave rise to the hit “Chest Pain (I Love)” which features production built around violins and intriguing touches of longing. It’s really no surprise that he and his 2024 album quickly drew attention and produced the current hit that is currently circulating on global charts, “Earrings.” We really like that song and highly recommend it.

Todd’s lyrics have a sleek quality that feels authentic while still embracing a sense of sensuality. “You need me/I need to lift up your shirt and see through/Your chest and what you want in me,” he sings on “Difficult Love,” a song about being hung up on a breakup while still not fully letting go. “Malcolm In The Middle” is cleverly positioned at the center of the album.

“X’s & O’s” places Todd at a strong point in the album, which opens with a talk-sung delivery before he declares that some kind of feeling has taken over his mind. “I’m just f*cking where the wind blows,” he tells us. The title track also caught our attention with a glitzy synth at the start. Here he claims he’s letting it go, but he still feels willing to return to it if she does. It feels almost innocent to accept that it can happen again and that it doesn’t have to be a one-and-done experience. At just 36 minutes of runtime, we hit repeat.

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