Unlike her last album rollout, an Easter egg hunt both online and off, several candy-colored music videos, and a performance at the Billboard Music Awards, this time … Taylor Swift is just dropping it. Her new album, Folklore, is coming out tonight at midnight. “Most of the things I had planned this summer didn’t end up happening, but there is something I hadn’t planned on that DID happen,” she wrote in an Instagram post announcing the album. “And that thing is my 8th studio album, folklore. Surprise 🤗Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into.” Folklore has 16 songs, but the physical deluxe editions include a bonus track called “The Lakes.” The physical editions come in eight different CD and vinyl editions, each with unique art and photos. “I wrote and recorded this music in isolation but got to collaborate with some musical heroes of mine; @aarondessner (who has co-written or produced 11 of the 16 songs), @boniver (who co-wrote and was kind enough to sing on one with me), William Bowery (who co-wrote two with me) and @jackantonoff (who is basically musical family at this point),” she added.
The music video for her first single, “Cardigan,” drops tonight, written and directed by Swift herself. Pre-pandemic, she was supposed to headline her very own Lover Fest and rerecord her old albums, now owned by nemesis Scooter Braun. Who knows what TS8 would’ve been without this detour? Folklore is out July 23, sliding in two months before the Grammy-eligibility period ends. Taylor Swift is back, y’all.
