Los Angeles: In a surprise announcement Thursday, singer Taylor Swift has said that she is set to release her eighth album, ‘Folklore’ soon. The LP, which she wrote and recorded in quarantine, will be unveiled Thursday midnight EST in the United States. Taylor Swift, 30, shared the news on Twitter. She said she has poured all of her ‘whims, dreams, fears, and musings’ into the brand new album.
Swift reflected on uncertainty amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Grammy winner said most of her plans didn’t work out this summer, but something unplanned has happened.
“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. I wrote and recorded this music in isolation but got to collaborate with some musical heroes of mine,” Swift wrote in a statement.
Swift said had it been another year, she would have probably ‘overthought’ to release this album at the ‘perfect’ time.
“… but the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed. My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world. That’s the side of uncertainty I can get on board with,” Swift stated.
The ‘Me’ hitmaker collaborated with Aaron Dessner, who co-wrote or produced 11 of the 16 songs on the album; Bon Iver, who co-wrote and sings on one of the tracks; William Bowery, who co-wrote two songs and her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, who she said is basically ‘musical family at this point’.
Swift also gave due credit to the recording team who worked hard to put the album together.
“Engineering by Laura Sisk and Jon Snow, mixed by Serban Ghenea and Jon Low. The album photos were shot by the amazing Beth Garrabrant,” she said.
The track list includes titles ‘illicit affairs’, ‘mad woman’, ‘mirrorball’, ‘peace’, ‘august’, and bonus track ‘the lakes’.
In a subsequent Twitter thread, Swift said the music video for ‘Cardigan’, one of the songs on the LP, will ‘premiere tonight, which I wrote/directed’.
The singer said 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,” Swift added.
‘Folklore’ is Swift’s follow-up to 2019’s ‘Lover’.