Everything we know about "folklore", the new album by Taylor Swift
With just a few hours' notice before its publication, Taylor Swift announces on social networks that her eighth album will be released on Friday, July 24. Titled “folklore” and recorded in these months of confinement, this seems like a change of direction for Swift with respect to her latest songs turned to more commercial pop.
Folklore (2020) has been co-written with musicians Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner, member of The National. We also know that the album will be made up of seventeen tracks, or as stated in the images posted by Taylor, sixteen plus a bonus track called "The lakes" that will be included in the deluxe editions. Along with the release of the album, Taylor Swift will premiere the music video for "cardigan."
Another novelty that we know of Taylor's new work is that the physical LP will have 8 different deluxe editions, each with a different cover, all in black and white. Swift appears in all of them. In these photos, we have also been able to see that all the songs and the album title are written in lowercase, an aesthetic reminiscent of Justin Vernon, with whom she will sing on the fourth track, “exile”.
What will folklore sound like? For a few hours, we can't know for sure; but we have several clues to guide us. The first: most of the songs have been composed by Taylor Swift with the help of Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver, either in the composition itself or in production. Additionally, Aaron's brother Bryce Dessner has also assisted in the orchestration of some of the songs.
The very title of the album also seems to point to a folk or even country sound, the genre with which Taylor Swift started and became famous. Will Taylor go back to her roots?
Review of "folklore" (2020) by Taylor Swift.
Taylor Swift's album for those who do not usually listen to Taylor Swift (we) have seemed ... surprisingly long. Of the sixteen songs, there are a few dedicated to characters created by Swift, perhaps the weakest on the album. In the others, it seems that he speaks of hers own experiences of her, loving her as is usually the normal thing in the artist.
The lyrics of "folklore" do not speak of anything similar to folklore, at least as we know it. The Last American Dynasty is about the previous owner of the house acquired by Taylor Swift in 2015. The next track is the duet with Bon Iver, a heartbreak story that works, especially if you're down.
As for the sound, we theorized above that it could be a return to Taylor Swift's country. But she has not marked a Joanne: although the character of the songs is more intimate, the melodies and lyrics do not stop following the typical pop structures. Of course, you can see the hand of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Aaron Dessner in the collaborations of the songs.
In short: "folklore" is an album to listen to a quiet day at home, while you drink an infusion in your armchair. Maybe with a couple (or four) fewer tracks, it would be a more rounded album; but of course it is easy to listen to and even has remarkable lyrics. And it is much better than its predecessor, "Lover" (2019).
