Taylor Swift to Release Another Surprise Album and ‘Folklore’ Companion
Folklore #Folklore
Taylor Swift continues her prolific 2020, with the superstar singer-songwriter announcing that she’s releasing yet another surprise album in just a few hours.
Swift, who previously dropped her Folklore album with just a few hours’ notice this summer, posted on Instagram Thursday that she’s dropping her ninth studio album, and Folklore’s sister record, titled Evermore, at midnight Eastern time on Thursday night.
“To put it plainly, we just couldn’t stop writing songs,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in. I’ve never done this before. In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one after an album was released. There was something different with Folklore. In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning. I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found into your lives. So I just kept writing them. And I loved creating these songs with Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, WB, and Justin Vernon. We’ve also welcomed some new (and longtime) friends to our musical kitchen table this time around…”
Swift posted two more Instagram messages with a track listing and teasing the first music video off the album. The track listing shows that there are songs featuring Dessner’s band The National and Vernon’s Bon Iver as well as Swift friends HAIM. “WB” is perhaps a reference to “William Bowery,” which Swift recently revealed is a pseudonym for boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
The new album is closely timed to her 31st birthday, on Dec. 13, and in the caption accompanying the track listing, Swift wrote, “Ever since I was 13, I’ve been excited about turning 31 because it’s my lucky number backwards, which is why I wanted to surprise you with this now. You’ve all been so caring, supportive and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I thought I would give you something!”
Swift wrote that she also hoped the album would provide some comfort in what is expected to be a particularly rough holiday season amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as people are urged to avoid travel and gatherings. “I also know this holiday season will be a lonely one for most of us and if there are any of you out there who turn to music to cope with missing loved ones the way I do, this is for you,” she wrote. “There are 15 tracks on the standard edition of Evermore, but the deluxe physical edition will include two bonus tracks – ‘right where you left me’ and ‘it’s time to go’.”
Swift added that the music video for “willow,” which Swift indicated she directed as she’s recently helmed her own videos, will drop at midnight Eastern time as well. The video was filmed with a “medical inspector,” Swift wrote, “who made sure every precaution was taken for our safety.”
She’ll be answering questions on the YouTube premiere page chat before midnight.
Folklore, which Swift dropped with just a few hours’ advance notice in July and was produced while in quarantine, ended up with five nominations for the 2021 Grammys, including an nod for album of the year, which, if she wins would make her the only female solo artist to have won that top prize three times.
That album also inspired a Disney+ concert film, released on Nov. 25, with Swift telling the stories behind and performing the songs off of the album with her Folklore collaborators.
Additionally, Swift revealed last month that she’s currently re-recording the music that was released during her time with Big Machine Label Group, after the record company was acquired by Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings.
While Swift was originally set to hit the road this year to perform concerts inspired by her 2019 album Lover, shows that have since been postponed due to the pandemic, she’s managed to keep herself busy.