taylor swift folklore
Taylor Swift Folklore

Taylor Swift’s Folklore Is the Perfect Quarantine Album

A die-hard fan responds to the surprise album drop

Listening to a new Taylor Swift album for the first time is an uncanny feeling for a diehard fan like me: It’s like listening to the soundtrack of your life for the next year, before actually living through it. You know that each of these songs is going to hold some significance in your life, you’re just not sure what it will be yet. For the first time, though, I can confidently predict what the rest of my year will look like: staying home and lying low. With Folklore, it feels like Taylor has predicted that with her uncharacteristically mellow, low-key and predominantly acoustic album.

At first, I was a little disappointed when I realized that there’s no beat-heavy, certifiable bop like “Cruel Summer” or “Delicate” on Folklore. My colleague Renée lovingly referred to the album as “great music to work to in a coffee shop—if we could work from coffee shops right now.” None of the songs would fit in on a packed dance floor or messy house party, and they certainly wouldn’t make sense set to fireworks and a dazzling dance routine at a stadium tour.

On the flip side, they’re perfect for a backyard hang with a couple of friends in your bubble, or a slow summer night at home alone with a generous glass of wine (am I projecting?). As I listened to Folklore, I realized that in some ways, I’m aching for 1989-era bop Taylor the same way I’m aching for the way I felt in 2014 when it came out: completely oblivious that I could ever live in a time when leaving the house with my mask and hand sanitizer would be more important than my purse or wallet. It’s a stark reminder that I’m not 22 anymore, and neither is Taylor. 

But in the blank space where the synthy, overproduced tracks used to be, comes something more thoughtful and introspective. The album isn’t flashy or glaringly on-the-nose the way Reputation was, and it’s far from the bubblegum dreamscape of Lover, Taylor’s most recent album. Instead, it’s something entirely new for Taylor: a folklore style in itself that blends together influences like Joni Mitchell and Lana Del Rey with collaborators Aaron Dressner of The National and her trusted producer Jack Antonoff.

It should come as no surprise that an album entirely written and recorded in isolation feels so different than anything we’ve heard before, and so deeply appropriate for staying home. Small observations like “And when I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed / You put me on and said I was your favourite” get the spotlight when allusions to Kim and Kanye are out of the picture. If anything, the challenges of 2020 have shown us what actually matters and what really doesn’t, and there’s something deeply refreshing about seeing that reflected in this album. Tonight, I’m meeting up with a friend to listen to the album in a nearby park as we look up at the stars. It’s not the Friday night we would have predicted for ourselves a little while ago, but somehow Taylor foresaw it, like she always does.

 

Folklore‘s Standout Tracks

august

This song will transport you to a heart-fluttering ’90s rom-com, in the absolute best way. Think: a swoon-worthy, contemporary take on Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me.”

invisible string

A quietly romantic song that contains a few sweet callbacks to past albums and allusions to her current beau (think: meeting in dive bars and golden threads tying them together). Another fun line that’s so deliciously Taylor, and possibly a Joe Jonas reference: “Cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart / now I send their babies presents.” 

betty

Internet rumours are flying about this one: Is it a tribute to her former friendship with Karlie Kloss? Is it named after Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’s publicly unnamed daughter? With mentions of James and Inez (Lively and Reynolds’s other daughters), it’s definitely possible. Gossip aside, the lighthearted theme of high school love is a sweet reminder of signature old-school Taylor songs like “Fifteen” and “Our Song.”

exile feat. Bon Iver

The only feature track on the entire album is done justice by Bon Iver. The richness of his voice combined with Taylor’s songwriting will give you chills.

the 1

Like a way toned down, more mature version of Reputation‘s “I Forgot That You Existed” this opening track looks back on a past relationship that makes you ache and fills you with relief at the same time. Play this for your friends going through a quarantine break-up; they’ll thank you.

 

    More Celebrity