What a week for Swifties! Not only have Taylor Swift's recent Instagram posts fueled fan speculation that she's gearing up for album No. 7 — a theory she slyly acknowledged with a pic of her shocked-looking cat — but now she's posed for a rare high-fashion photoshoot.

On Wednesday (February 27), Swift unveiled the cover of Elle UK's April issue, which features a photo of her wearing a ruffled yellow gown (Belle is shaking!) next to a blurb that reads "Taylor Swift Takes Control." (It's all pinks and yellows, which totally fits in with her light and bright new Instagram aesthetic, by the way.) Inside the mag, Swift wrote an essay about the "Power of Pop" and the role that pop music has played in her life. Though she admits she's "highly biased," she says that the way music can conjure long-forgotten memories is the "closest sensation we have to traveling in time."

"To this day, when I hear 'Cowboy Take Me Away' by the Dixie Chicks, I instantly recall the feeling of being 12 years old, sitting in a little wood-paneled room in my family home in Pennsylvania," she explained. "I'm clutching a guitar and learning to play the chords and sing the words at the same time, rehearsing for a gig at a coffee house."

The Reputation singer also shared which songs have helped her heal from heartbreak: "I'm convinced that 'You Learn' by Alanis Morissette, 'Put Your Records On' by Corinne Bailey Rae and 'Why' by Annie Lennox have actually healed my heart after bad breakups or let downs," she wrote.

Of course, Swift's own music has become just as important to millions of fans, and she believes it's because of the attention to honesty and detail that pop artists like herself put into their music. She explained, "In modern pop, songs/bops/chunes including extremely personal details like 'Kiki, do you love me' and 'Baby pull me closer in the backseat of your rover' have been breaking through on the most global cultural level.

"This year on tour, I got to hear stadium crowds passionately sing along to a young woman from Cuba singing about 'Havana,'" she continued, referencing her tour opener and good friend Camila Cabello. "I think these days, people are reaching out for connection and comfort in the music they listen to."

Swift finished her essay by noting that "just like a great book," the "alliance between a song and our memories of the times it helped us heal, or made us cry, dance, or escape that truly stands the test of time."

Amen, Taylor! About that album though...