Surprise! Taylor Swift Has a New Album Dropping at Midnight

In April, Taylor Swift announced that the tour she had planned for her 2020 album Lover would be postponed to 2021. Afterwards, her contributions to quarantine social media were infrequent but effective. She showed off some loungewear and even had a flame war with Donald Trump. It turns out that while the rest of us were mourning our big plans for 2020, Swift was doing that and recording a totally new album that will be out at midnight Friday.

The new album, called Folklore, might reflect a fondness for mid-aughts indie rock. Bon Iver, the band led by Justin Vernon, is a listed as a feature artist on “Exile.” She wrote 11 of the 16 tracks with Aaron Dessner, a multi-instrumentalist best known for his work with the National, but who has moonlighted as a record producer for a wide array of artists.

(Dessner has also had an eventful quarantine: in a viral tweet, he was mistaken for someone who was arrested after a protest in Columbus, Ohio. He later released a statement where he explained that he was not the man in question. “I’m very fortunate and grateful to wake up every morning in the rural countryside I live in, looking at farmland and these beautiful mountains,” he wrote. “I’ve been here for three months now isolating with my wife and young children.” And, apparently, working on a Taylor Swift album.)

Jack Antonoff, who has helped out on her last three albums and also co-produced the Chicks’ Gaslighter, is also making an appearance on Folklore. In a statement she posted to her social media, she described the music as “songs I’ve poured my whims, dreams, and musings into.” The album will have a limited-edition deluxe CD and vinyl release. On Swift’s website, it’s also available on cassette.

She added that the move reflects some changes in her thinking prompted by the moment. “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.”

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