This past summer, Taylor Swift surprise announced her 8th studio album, folklore. Within weeks of its release, the album became one of best-selling albums of the year. It received the best criticism of her career to date, with a score of 88/100 on Metacritic. folklore has recently been nominated for five Grammys, including the Album of the Year category.
With this surprise announcement, you would think the Swifties would have been keeping an eye out for other clues. This, however, was not the case. Just 20 weeks after releasing folklore, Swift surprise announced (again) the sister album, evermore on Dec. 11.
“To put it plainly, we just couldn’t stop writing… 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 said in a social media post when she released her ninth studio album.
Only a few days after its release, evermore debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The lead single “willow” received similar praise to its sister album, getting an 85/100 on Metacritic.
While Swift’s main focus on folklore was to split the tracks from being produced by Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, evermore focuses on features from various artists including Bon Iver (“evermore”), HAIM (“no body, no crime”), and Marcus Mumford (backup vocals on “cowboy like me”). These collaborations created an indie rock sound to the album, but we also get folk music, grunge and her country roots.
In evermore, the listener can hear how Swift explored third-person storytelling and narratives. While this album does not have the love story triangle as its sister did, evermore’s themes range from forbidden love, neglect in a relationship, heartbreak and forgiveness.
After 145+ listens (according to Apple Music), I am still finding ways to appreciate Swift’s lyricism and storytelling. Some of my favorite tracks on the album are “gold rush,” “tolerate it,” “ivy,” “cowboy like me” and “right where you left me.”
Overall, both folklore and evermore are masterpieces that complement each other. Props to Swift for recording two full albums in a global pandemic.
