Taylor Swift is one of the big icons in the music industry. Taylor Swift got her start in Nashville and soon strayed away from the genre to focus more on pop as the years went on. If you don’t know who Taylor Swift is, she’s the girl that your little sister won’t shut up about and only listens to when her middle school boyfriend “cheats” on her by sitting with his other female friends at lunch. Taylor found a groove in her music and ran with it. I can see where she gets inspiration though. If she cranks out 2 more albums, she’ll match the number of guys she’s kicked to the curb. Okay, I’m kidding. I don’t have bad blood with Taylor. She is a good artist with talent and has made a name for herself in the music industry. She knows how to party like she’s 22, or like she was born in 1989. With her newest album folklore, it took me by surprise with the style she went for this time. So, Taylor, you deserve all the praise you’re getting. Heck, I’ll write your name on my top favorite artists.
Folklore is the eighth album to be released by her. The catch was that no one saw it coming. No, I’m serious. No promotion, no marketing, no ads, nothing. Just a single tweet 16 hours before it was uploaded on Spotify and iTunes. The album was recorded in isolation during the pandemic that has been the highlight of 2020. The album was released on July 24th, 2020 through Republic Records. It features 16 songs and has production associated with the talents of Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, and Taylor Swift. Taylor has taken a drastic turn away from her comfort zone and started experimenting with different styles as the album is classified and categorized as indie-folk, alt-rock, electro-folk, and chamber pop.
The album was a smash hit on the charts, currently boasting 4, 4.5, and 5 starts across various platforms. Scores of 86, 8.4, and 88 on aggregate scores as well. The album moved nearly 846,00 units in the first week of release and then went on to premiere on the Billboard 200 chart. That landed Taylor her seventh time in a row number one album and on top of that, had the biggest sales week of 2020 in the entire country. It didn’t even stop there as it went on to reach number-one in Canada, Ireland, the U.K, and other countries around the world. On the Billboard Hot 100, “Cardigan” was the number-one contender with three other songs of hers in the top 10. She was also the first person in history to top the 100 and 200 charts in the same week. If you haven’t guessed from my findings, Taylor Swift is bloodthirsty for awards and will stop at nothing until she’s gotten every single one at the same time.
What the best thing about the album was the fact no one saw it coming. Just a single Twitter-like “Yeah btw I made an album hope you like it.” Twitter lost its mind. Folklore was trending in a matter of hours with people losing their minds over a surprise album. I browsed the tweets in the hashtags, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity. My favorite tweet came from someone who said:
“My girlfriend asked me if we could temporally break up so she can listen to folklore with the right mindset.”
I am not surprised in the slightest.
The album features 16 songs with a total listening time of 63 minutes and 29 seconds. The songs on the album are nothing short of beautiful. From what is being said on the internet, Cardigan is the best song on the album. My personal favorite too. The songs take on this sense of wonderment and light-feeling happiness but are undermined by the meaning of the songs. The album was going for this rustic, nature, cottage middle of the wood’s vibe and the themes of the songs drive that point home. As stated, the album is being labeled indie-folk, electric-folk, chamber pop, alt-rock. The songs that were composed here also give off doses of other genres like indie rock, dream pop, and even going back to her country roots. It blends the music and sound of mellow drums and the picking of a guitar. The soft touches of piano, strings, horns, all of it came together to form a style Taylor has really embraced.
Songs have meaning. Taylor also takes note of this and adds meaning to her music. Telling a story or driving home a message that conveys itself through the power of music. 99.9% of the time it’s about breakups or relationships. It’s blatantly clear in her songs. Don’t get me wrong, she does it in a beautiful manner. The song “Cardigan” and its message of the lost feelings of romance and young love. How it leaves scars and marks along the mind. The story of Betty and her love triangle that is also touched upon in “august” and “betty.” The story of Rebekah Harkness in “the last great American dynasty.” Each song crafted to tell a story of love and heartbreak and trying to find what was lost again.
Folklore is a great step in a great direction of Taylor Swift. Critics love it, I love it, you’ll love it. Next time that it’s raining outside and it’s all dark and cloudy. Throw on your sweatpants, a nice sweater, and drink some coffee and think about the days of your youth when you thought having a boyfriend or girlfriend was the highlight of your childhood/teen years.
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