Taylor Swift has surprised fans not only with the announcement of her new album folklore, but that it will be released tonight at midnight EST in the US and 5am (24th July) in the UK.
Signalling to fans that an announcement was on the way Taylor posted a mosaic set of images of her within the forest on Instagram. It was then revealed the images (Shot by Beth Garrabrant) when put together made up the cover art for her new release folklore. Accompanying the cover art came the announcement of her eighth studio album which was written and recorded during isolation.
Aaron Dessner who worked on 11 of the tracks has spoken out about Taylor approaching him in late April about writing some songs remotely together. Reaching out to fans about the experience on Twitter he describes the singer-songwriter as “one of the most talented, hardworking and deeply caring artists I’ve ever encountered“. Whilst Jack Antonoff has advised listeners that “August & My Tears Ricochet are my favorite things we’ve done together” just in case you needed to know which tracks to skip to first… He’s also hinted that more new music is on the way so head’s up Taylor Swift fans be on your guard at all times.
Whilst we might not be able to get our hands on a physical copy of folklore straight away, the wait will be worth it as a number of special editions have been created. The deluxe physical editions of the release will feature a track called ‘The Lakes’; whilst over on her webstore there are eight deluxe CD editions and eighth deluxe vinyl editions available for one week only in honour of this being her eighth studio album. Get your copy (or copies!) from here.
The track listing for folklore is as followed:
1. The 1
2. Cardigan
3. The Last American Dynasty
4. Exile (ft. 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 (Bonus Track)
Giving fans no time to digest the album announcement, she then revealed to fans that the video for ‘Cardigan’ which the singer-songwriter wrote and directed will also be premiered tonight at an unspecified time. Shot during lockdown along with a still from the video and thanks to all those involved she revealed that “The entire shoot was overseen by a medical inspector, everyone wore masks, stayed away from each other, and I even did my own hair, makeup, and styling”. Earlier this year Taylor took the reins and directed the music video for single ‘The Man‘ which was an incredibly powerful visual effort so we cannot wait to see what the ‘Cardigan’ video holds.
Like many other artists a number of notable events in Taylor’s 2020 calendar got put on hold including the Lover Fest tour and her slot at Glastonbury Festival. However, the delay now means fans will get to hear tracks from 2019 release Lover and new release folklore when touring resumes again.
Are you excited about the release of folklore? Tweet us @CelebMix and let us know!