Just days before a her birthday, Taylor Swift is surprising her fans with a major gift that even they didn’t see coming — a whole new album!
“Didn’t she just release folklore earlier this summer?” Well, yes. But Swift and her tribe of collaborators were so into the process of creating the dreamlike world explored through the album that they literally could not stop writing songs. Thus, ninth studio album evermore was born, a project described as the “sister record” to folklore that will have its big lost-in-the-woods, cursing-for-the-first-time energy.
"I’m elated to tell you that my 9th studio album, and folklore’s sister record, will be out tonight at midnight eastern," Swift announced on her social media. "It’s called evermore."
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"To put it plainly, we just couldn’t stop writing songs. 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," Swift concluded. "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."
Swift also shared the track list for evermore, which boasts some exciting features; HAIM is listed on "no body, no crime" (sounds spooky), and The National and past folklore feature Bon Iver will also appear on the album. Looking at the track list, Swifties are already piecing together the puzzle that is evermore, drawing a few clues about what to expect from the project and kicking themselves for not seeing it coming.
The 13th track from "evermore" is "marjorie" – the name of Taylor Swift's grandmother, who was an Opera singer and also inspired Taylor's passion for music. #evermore pic.twitter.com/HJ64UfYABm
— eve (@Iovesicktay) December 10, 2020
🔎 | Taylor Swift hinted at track 4 “‘tis the damn season” on her Instagram story yesterday 🤡 #evermore pic.twitter.com/7s15uJyGC8
— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) December 10, 2020
FOLKLORE HAS 16 TRACKS AND #evermore HAS 15 TRACKS???
— k | Folklore : The Movie (@folkxile) December 10, 2020
15+16= 31!? @taylorswift13 u amaze me 🤩
she gave so many signs#Evermore @taylornation13 pic.twitter.com/HFhuzs0Jpr
— wonderstruck elf | evermore (@iamwonderstrxck) December 10, 2020
us: you never gave a warning sign
— vero 🍂 evermore era (@inyourcardigan) December 10, 2020
taylor: I GAVE SO MANY SIGNS #evermore pic.twitter.com/BBXlwPIw3p
So yeah, 2020 may have been a hellscape, but at least the Swifties are having a good time. evermore is set to be released across streaming platforms on December 11.