Taylor Swift - 'folklore' Album Review
'folklore', styled in all lower case letters, is Taylor Swift's eighth studio album, and the second released in eleven months, the first one being 'Lover'. Swift announced her new album just hours before it was released.
It is Swift's first album to contain explicit content - though it does not make the album any less fantastic. I am confident that it will redefine the indie music genre... not to mention that the whole thing is really aesthetic.
It sounds low and earthy, and has a grounding vibe running through it. The titles of all of the songs are lower case, as is the title, and the black-and-white album cover seems to match that aesthetic. It's natural. It's nostalgic. This is a work of art, not just of music.
In the twenty-four hours since its release, it has received wide-spread acclaim, and Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone magazine dubbed the album as Taylor Swift's "greatest album - so far."
Aptly named, the album opens with the 1, centres around a nostalgic remembrance of myths and the narrator's lost loves. Whoever's point of view that Swift is singing from is thinking of an alternate life in which their old wishes with an ex-lover had come true. It's quite a beautiful song to open an album with, but undoubtedly sets the tone for the rest of the sixteen-track album.
The lead single for 'folklore', cardigan is a nostalgic song, and this seems to be the tone for a lot of the album. It has a low, earthy feel to it and could perhaps be put in the category of Swift's best break-up songs, as the narrator is reflecting on a lost-love who made them feel wanted and loved, shown in the lyrics, "and when I felt like I was an old cardigan / Under someone's bed / You put me on and said I was your favourite." This seems like quite a powerful lyric, and one that is remarkably easy to relate to, in my opinion. I also especially appreciate the reference to J.M Barrie's Peter Pan, which is one of my favourite books of all time, "Tried to change the ending / Peter losing Wendy."
For the shooting of this video, there was a medical inspector on set, and everybody involved wore masks and maintained social distancing measures. Swift added in an Instagram post that "I even did my own hair, makeup, and styling 😂"
The third song follows the story of Rebekah Harkness, a patron of the arts and founder of the Rebekah Harkness Foundation. The third song is titled the last great american dynasty. In 2015, Swift bought a Rhode Island mansion which was once owned by Harkness. In this song, Swift draws comparisons between her and Harkness, who was, among other things, a target of harsh criticism from the tabloids and the public, as Swift is regularly. This song seems very personal, but at the same time, like just another story told by Swift in any other song that she has written. Taylor Swift has an uncanny ability to somehow make a song feel so deep and personal whilst at the same time, not conveying completely depressing tones within it. She gives her songs to her fans, and lets them make what they want of it. the last great american dynasty is one of my favourite songs on this album.
Featuring Bon Iver, exile seems a very painful song, but nostalgic, which is a theme that carries through 'folklore'. It tells the story of a couple who meet after the end of their relationship, which they failed to make work despite their best efforts.
With a faintly Glee-esque beginning because of the accapella-like voices, my tears ricochet is, in Swift's own words, is about an "embittered tormentor showing up at the funeral of his fallen subject of affection." In a Youtube livechat, she revealed that it was the first song she wrote for 'folklore'. This song, many fans have speculated, is connected to 2017's Look What You Made Me Do, where Swift proclaims "the old Taylor" dead, and so fans believe that it may be the funeral of "the old Taylor" that she is singing about. This song, I think, is as much a power anthem as you'll get on this album. Taylor may be singing about her own funeral, but also about the one who did her wrong mourning for her. It's truly a beautiful song.
In the sixth track of 'folklore', she is comparing herself to a disco ball through a metaphor, and sees herself as "shimmering" and "beautiful", which is a good way for her to share a message to young fans - but especially females - that they are beautiful and shine... however, when looking deeper into the song and listening more closely to the lyrics, one finds that she is singing of reflecting the personalities around her and entertaining others, but, as a mirror does when it is dropped, her heart shatters when it is broken. It is a really true, honest metaphor, and makes an empowering song.
I can not even explain how happy it makes me that the seventh song on this album is called seven. I feel that it would be a lot of artists' style to make a song with a number as its title a different number track... but Taylor is delicate here. It appears to be about a childhood friend of the narrator, possibly Swift herself, who had an unhappy home life, as many of Swift's fans might have had to suffer during the months of lock down. It is a touching song which seems to extend the support of the artist to her more vulnerable fans. It is catchy, specifically the chorus, and has a soft, beautiful piano melody in the background which makes it stand out amongst the aforementioned songs which seem to have a different tone to this one.
August is the eighth month of the year. The eighth song on Taylor Swift's eighth album is called august, which is almost as satisfying as the seventh song being called seven. It is nostalgic and reminiscent of youthful romance and youth in general. The fact that the song is called august implies that it is written about a summer romance which holds particularly fond memories for the narrator. This is one of my favourite songs on the album because it is quite a sweet-sounding, loving song. Fans have speculated that it is the second part of a 'teenage love triangle' story, taking part in 'folklore', told from the point of view of Inez. It is preceded by the second track on the album, cardigan, and is followed by the fourteenth song, betty.
The next song is called this is me trying and is different to other Swift songs because it is not written to absolve the narrator, Swift herself, even, of blame and responsibility in repairing the relationship. In this song, a beautiful song which seems so very personal, as if the listener as getting a glimpse inside of Swift's mind, personal life and relationship, Swift accepts blame for the part which she plays in the dissolution of the relationship... however, she takes the first step by admitting that things are difficult.
illicit affairs echoes the idea first discussed in Should Have Said No, which was released in 2006. In the decade-or-so which has passed, Swift seems to have changed her concept of infidelity, the so-called 'illicit affair'. This song, especially, seems to echo a painful breakup, and the listener is provided with the reason why... but it feels a lot of time has passed since the relationship, and as a result, Swift's ideas on the reason why the relationship ended have changed and she is reflecting on it.
invisible string, the eleventh song on 'folklore' is a reflection on the strong which ties two people. The song refers to everything which once tied the couple together. Inspired by a Chinese myth of the 'red thread of fate', the story is an example of folklore. Another particular favourite of my mine from this album, invisible string feels like the listener is experiencing diary entries which are being read back on several years after they were written, and then the narrator is trying to put into words how they feel about the relationship now.
Telling the tale of a, in Swift's own words, "misfit woman getting gleeful revenge on the town that cast her out", the twelfth song on 'folklore' seems like a story which Taylor got from a history book - of a woman who acts mad because everybody believes she is, and so she is banished from the town which she lives in. I'm not overly fond of this one because it seems like it doesn't fit on the album, or perhaps not in the place that it is in - earlier on in the track list might have fitted it better.
epiphany, the next song on the eight studio album of Taylor Swift, is a great song because it is relatable to everybody, given the current COVID-19 situation (which Swift wrote and recorded the album in). It describes somebody who is hoping to find peace in their dreams despite living in chaos and violence. In the 'folklore' album prologue, Swift explains that the song is partly about her grandfather's experience in the military. This song seems slow and depressing, but it is very special because it is not boring or dull despite its slow tempo... and, oddly enough, it reminds me of a lullaby.
The fourteenth song on the album and the third song in what fans speculate as a teenage love triangle, betty is a feminist's approach to a breakup, portraying the narrator as a boy who cannot own up to his own mistakes. I love this song. Quite possibly my favourite on the entire album. It's catchy and relatable and sounds vaguely like the country songs which seem so long ago in Swift's discography. The song has a certain sense of naivety about it, but it is beautiful. Perfect, even. Some fans have also speculated that it is the song of Ryan Reynolds' and Blake Lively's next child as their other two children are called James and Inez, both are characters who are mentioned in the song, and Inez is mentioned in another song on the album. It also mentions wearing a cardigan, which is an Easter-Egg to the second song on the album, cardigan.
The penultimate song, peace, seems apt at the moment given the current state of the world. It is a calm tune describing Taylor Swift's ageing and life, but can be adapted to that of other people's lives. She praises her partner whilst also reminiscing on her old childhood. The tune to this one is a little odd, but it fits perfectly, and is an almost-perfect way to begin to round up an album such as 'folklore'.
The final song on the album is a piano tune, and one with a very sad feeling to it... once again feeling very personal, it is an appropriate track which narrates the struggles of enduring a toxic relationship. Although the narrator has been driven to the edge of depression, loneliness and hopelessness by her partner, she is unable to let go of the relationship which she is in. It is soft. Musically, it's special, I have no doubt.
This album is awesome. Like, seriously. And so is Taylor Swift. She crosses barriers and then redefines them, and her music is some of the best of my generation. But 'folklore' is a career-defining album. It establishes characters and story lines, drawing on her own experiences in relationships both platonic and romantic, and then blows the listener away and takes them on a journey.
From a country singer to a pop princess and now an indie diva... she rocks it.