
folklore is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, scheduled to be released on July 24, 2020, through Republic Records. It is released eleven months after Swift’s seventh studio album, Lover (2019). Folklore was conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was a surprise release, announced on Swift’s social media hours before its launch.
Folklore was conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aaron Dessner, the American indie rock band The National, was isolating and quarantining with his family, when Swift had approached him in late April to write some songs remotely together. Eleven songs were written with Dessner over the next few months, while the others were written with Jack Antonoff, William Bowery and Bon Iver. Dessner stated, “I thought it would take a while for song ideas to come and I had no expectations as far as what we could accomplish remotely”, “But a few hours after sharing music, my phone lit up with a voice memo from Taylor of a fully written song—the momentum never really stopped”. He commented: “There’s a palpable humanity and warmth and raw emotion in these songs that I hope you’ll love and take comfort in as much as I do”.
The album was a surprise release, announced by Swift on her social media accounts hours before its launch, the midnight of July 24, 2020. It follows her seventh studio album Lover (2019), which was released eleven months prior. The album has eight deluxe CDs and vinyls that are only available for a week for the physical copies, all of which have different cover artworks and photos.
An accompanying music video for the track “Cardigan” will be released along with the album. It is directed by Swift and produced by Jil Hardin.
Tracklist:
1. “the 1”
2. “cardigan”
3. “the last great american dynasty”
4. “exile” (featuring Bon Iver)
5. “my tears ricochet”
6. “mirrorball”
7. “seven”
8. “august”
9. “this is me trying”
10. “illicit affairs”
11. “invisible string”
12. “mad woman”
13. “epiphany”
14. “betty”
15. “peace”
16. “hoax”
17. “the lakes”
OVERALL RATING





5 stars