Although Taylor Swift’s plans to launch a new festival in support of her 2019 album, Lover, were scuttled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems she put her quarantine time to good use. The pop star unleashed her eighth album, folklore, today, just hours after announcing it. This upends Swift’s customary rollout strategies, which typically involve multiple marquee singles and weeks or months of promotion.
The album includes a lone feature from Bon Iver as well as songwriting and production collaborations with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner of The National. Swift described the album as “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.” She also explained her decision to release the album so quickly.
“Before this year I probably would’ve overthought when to release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, but the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed,” she wrote. “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.”
