So, while we were all busy, counting down the days in quarantine, making dalgona coffee and baking banana bread, Taylor Swift was making a full length album-while in isolation no less! Just think of all the file sharing that went on between her collaborators, ah, the magic of technology.
Sweet Surprise
The 30 year old singer-songwriter surprised the world by announcing that she would be releasing her 8th studio album, recorded in isolation (because, why not?) with only about 17 hours before said album’s release. No teaser, no fanfare, just a tweet that began with “Surprise” -and oh boy was everyone surprised. This was an unprecedented move for the pop star who is known for her careful and calculated marketing strategies before the release of an album. I will admit when I saw her tweet announcing a surprise album release, I had to double check that the Twitter account was verified, I then proceeded to do a couple of double checks; in this day and age of “fake news” you can never tell. Needless to say, Swifties were reeling with surprise and excitement and thus the countdown to the album began.
Clever Collaborations
Within hours everything there is to know about the album made its way online, from Swift’s collaborators, Indie favorites Bon Iver, who is featured in the track “exile” I rarely like collaboration songs but this one, works! “exile” swells to that dramatic chorus which just brings goosebumps. The stark difference in their vocal tones blends together in a beautiful and unexpected way. Aaron Dessner from “The National” is also a notable collaborator in the album, he worked with Swift on 11 of the album’s 16 tracks. “the momentum never really stopped” Dessner says of their collaboration. Of the album Taylor Swift says, “It is a collection of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears and musings into. I wrote and recorded this music in isolation but got to collaborate with some musical heroes of mine”.
Monochrome Madness
Leaving the colorful hues and playful visual themes of her previous album “Lover” behind, “folklore” is accompanied by serene monochrome photos of Swift in beautiful landscapes. The images were hauntingly beautiful, to say the least. The look and feel already gave hints to fans and listeners of a (possible) laid back collection of songs (spoiler-it is). What others thought was going to be a return to her country roots was actually a transition into a more alternative, Indie-Folk sound. Its the type of album that you pop in when you are cozied up in a favorite blanket (or cardigan) while having a warm cup of cocoa, with the rain softly falling outside your window. While reminiscing on lost love and past heartaches. Perfect for some quarantine listening eh? In hindsight, these songs are not your typical stadium friendly numbers, and Swift most probably realized that she would not be touring with these songs anyway. Her tour for ‘Lover’ was already put on hold due to the pandemic; might as well explore this untapped area of the musical pool. Her ability to tell a story takes center stage in this album, just think are three notable tracks ‘cardigan’, ‘august’ and ‘betty’ which tell the story of all the players of a love triangle.
I felt that ‘mad woman’ was a continuation of Lover’s “The Man”. Also, isn’t it perfect timing that we get to listen to ‘mad woman’ after AOC’s (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) recent powerful speech on sexism in Congress?Her remarks took apart the playbook which men have used to keep women in their place for centuries. Many have considered her speech the most feminist (speech) in a generation.
Every time you call me crazy
I get more crazy What about that?
And when you say I seem angry,
I get more angry
And there’s nothing like a mad woman
It was an Online Listening Party
Part of the unique experience of this surprise album release was listening to it along with other fans and interacting on different social media platforms while doing so. I was commenting on Facebook posts and replying to tweets to fans who were like me, listening to the album, at the same time and think I used up all of the Taylor Swift GIFs in doing so. It was like a listening party while in quarantine. A gift that keeps on giving Before long fans were posting their own ‘folklore’ inspired photos, lyrics to songs made their way online. There were beautifully crafted ones, and not surprisingly some of the lyrics and art soon became political. Because, hey its a pretty heated political climate wherever you are. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much content created for a newly released album.
Whether she planned it or not, this album was a gift for fans and yes, even the casual listener, just think about it, when was the last time that people actually wanted to listen to an entire album? And by opting to drop an entire album literally, out of nowhere, instead of having multiple singles released first, she has created even more frenzy that is she would have done a traditional pre-album release.
An intimate experience
She leaves her pop comfort zone and embraces a more introspective and contemplative Indie-Folk sound, Swift has endeared her already fiercely loyal fans and in the process gained new ones. She takes her story-telling to a whole different level, no longer does she need to look into her personal love life for inspiration, in ‘folklore’ she lets her imagination run away, creating characters and weaving stories that are realistic, haunting and at times, heart breaking. The music is mostly guitars, piano, a dash of harmonica in ‘betty’ and some light orchestra accompaniment.
‘folklore’ is the first Taylor Swift album that has been classified as alternative, think Tori Amos, A Fine Frenzy and a bit of The Sundays. The closest from her old songs that shares similarities is “Safe and Sound” from The Hunger Games.
The creative process and journey for Swift isn’t over yet, she still has a lot of tricks up her sleeves. She has been making music for a long time, and yet, she can still surprise her listeners and if its the good kind of surprise that ‘folklore’ was, then I can’t wait for the next one.
Honestly its a bit overwhelming to even attempt to write about an album that currently has such a big impact on pop-culture, (as of this writing, ‘folklore’ has already sold 1.3 million copies globally) but hey, you’ve got to try and isn’t that what being a content creator is all about? I guess, you can also look at it and take inspiration from what Taylor Swift has accomplished while in isolation. For a moment she helped us forget and led us into her beautiful, intimate, haunting and heart breaking world that is ‘folklore’.
Also sharing our vlog from Taylor Swift’s “Lover” album launch in Eastwood City (I MISS EASTWOOD!) uploaded ten months ago. Makes me miss events even more! Wonder if there is going to be an official virtual album launch for ‘folklore’. (Please subscribe to the YouTube channel!)