As the pandemic struck in early March and many people tried to be creative by baking bread or taking up knitting, Taylor Swift took it one step further, using the time she originally planned to be touring to write and produce a new album.
Fans were amazed to read Thursday, July 23 on Swift’s social media that a previously unannounced 8th studio album, folklore, would be released Friday at midnight, not unlike when Beyoncé dropped Lemonade in 2016 to the surprise of her fans. For Swift, however, this release wasn’t completely planned. “Before this year I probably would’ve overthought when to release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, but the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed. My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world,” Swift explained in her announcement.
Listening through the songs, one might assume that quarantine wasn’t very kind to Taylor, given lyrics such as “They told me all of my cages were mental / So I got wasted like all my potential” and “If I’m dead to you why are you at the wake?” Heartbreak and survival may have been common topics in Swift’s previous work, drawing from her own personal experience, but folklore draws its subjects from a different source.
“In isolation my imagination has run wild and this album is the result, a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness,” Swift explained upon the download’s release. “Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory. I’ve told these stories to the best of my ability with all the love, wonder, and whimsy they deserve. Now it’s up to you to pass them down.”
As always, these stories are important to Swift in some way and weave a tale few others could create, introducing a more folk-like quality to her music, while straying from the rock and pop styles that characterized her previous three releases. The result is music that would feel at home in a fairy tale, but with explicit lyrics—another first for the pop darling. Sixteen songs (plus “the lake,” which will be released on the physical album) introduce characters ranging from Rebekah Harkness, a philanthropist, patron of the arts, and previous owner of Swift’s Rhode Island home (“the last great American dynasty”) to couples reflecting on past heartbreak (“the 1”) and a woman spurned with hatred after being treated horribly by the world and called a “mad woman” when others intentionally “poke that bear till her claws come out.”
Co-written and performed on by Bon Iver, “exile,” is relatively different than some of the band’s own work, but brings a more indie style to Swift’s album. Harmonizing between stanzas, a couple reminisces on their past relationship after meeting years later with different partners, realizing how bad things could turn in that instance: “I’ve seen this film before / And I didn’t like the ending.”
The lead single, “cardigan,” for which she wrote and directed the music video, which also premiered Friday, is tied together with two other fictional tales on the album, including “august” and “betty.” “The song is about a lost romance and why young love is often fixed so permanently within our memories. Why it leaves such an indelible mark,” explained Swift. As for the music video, like the album, it was still produced during quarantine, which meant extra protection was essential and it would not be filled with extras like “Shake it Off.” Instead, Swift is shown in a cabin playing a piano, which becomes a mystical doorway to a picturesque grassy cliff, followed by the middle of the ocean during a storm. Featuring only Swift, with the title cardigan making a cameo, the crew was able to safely make the video. “The entire shoot was overseen by a medical inspector, everyone wore masks, stayed away from each other, and I even did my own hair, makeup, and styling,” Swift said.
Overall, despite the new musical style, there is no doubt folklore is a another stage of Taylor Swift. Having established herself as a pop star since 1989, this indie folk album will be yet another proven accomplishment of her lyrical storytelling skills, equal to if not exceeding that of Lover.
