folklore

COMPOSITION
“folklore” has been described as an indie folk, alternative rock, electro-folk, and chamber pop album with elements of indie rock, electronica, dream pop and country. Devoid of any pop songs, it marked Taylor’s departure from the contemporary pop sound of her previous works. The album consists of cinematic, downtempo ballads with an “earthy”, lo-fi production and elegant melodies that together lend a modern spin on traditional songcraft, largely built around “nearly neo-classical” instrumentals, such as: soft, sparse and sonorous pianos, moody, picked and burbling guitars, fractured and glitchy electronica, throbbing percussions, mellow programmed drums and Mellotron, sweeping orchestrations with “ethereal” strings and “meditative” horns.

“There’s so much stress everywhere you turn that I kind of wanted to make an album that felt sort of like a hug, or like your favorite sweater that makes you feel like you want to put it on. Like a good cardigan, a good, worn-in cardigan. Or something that makes you reminisce on your childhood.” — Taylor Swift

The album does not completely avoid “digital beats, plush synths” characteristic of Taylor’s pop music, but instead “dials them down until they are an almost invisible texture”. Rolling Stone noted that the vibe of “folklore” resembles that of “Safe & Sound“, Taylor’s single for the “Hunger Games” film soundtrack (2012).

LYRICS AND THEMES
Upon the release of the album, Taylor noted how isolation played a big role in the making of “folklore” and how it helped her during the lockdown period.

“In isolation, my imagination has run wild and this album is the result, a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness. Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory. I’ve told these stories to the best of my ability with all the love, wonder, and whimsy they deserve.” — Taylor Swift

Compared to much of Taylor’s older discography, the songwriting on “folklore” reflected her “deepening” self-awareness, formed “vivid” storytelling, and showed a “higher degree of fictionalization” that was less “self-referential”. The songs are also notably less upbeat than on “Lover”. In October 2020, Taylor told Paul McCartney in an interview for Rolling Stone that she wanted to make sadness the central theme of the album in a way that made it less scary and more comforting because some may have needed it amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think sadness can be cozy. It can obviously be traumatic and stressful too, but I kinda was trying to lean into sadness that feels like somehow enveloping in not such a scary way— like nostalgia and whimsy incorporated into a feeling like you’re not all right. Because I don’t think anybody was really feeling like they were in their prime this year. Isolation can mean escaping into your imagination in a way that’s kind of nice.” — Taylor Swift

The songs explore points of view that diverge from Taylor’s life, including third-person narratives. The imaginary narratives described in “folklore” include a scandalous old widow hated by her whole town, a scared seven-year-old girl with a traumatized best friend, a ghost watching her enemies at her funeral, recovering addicts, and a fumbling teenage boy. Three of the tracks — “cardigan”, “august” and “betty” — depict a love triangle between three fictitious characters: Betty, James and an unnamed woman, with each of the three songs written from the perspective of each of those characters in different times in their lives. Commenting on the maturity of the album’s lyrical execution, NPR’s Ann Powers compared the album to releases by other artists when they were thirty years old, such as: The Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main St.” (1972), Joni Mitchell’s “Court and Spark” (1974), Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” (1976), Elliott Smith’s “Either/Or” (1997), and PJ Harvey’s “Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea” (2000). Many songs on “folklore” also incorporate cinematic imagery in their lyrics. Taylor told Paul McCartney:

“I was reading, you know, books like Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, which I highly recommend, and books that dealt with times past, a world that doesn’t exist anymore. I was also using words I always wanted to use – kind of bigger, flowerier, prettier words, like ‘epiphany,’ in songs. I always thought, “Well, that’ll never track on pop radio,” but when I was making this record, I thought, “What tracks? Nothing makes sense anymore. If there’s chaos everywhere, why don’t I just use the damn word I want to use in the song? […] I have favorite words, like ‘elegies’ and ‘epiphany’ and ‘divorcée,’ and just words that I think sound beautiful, and I have lists and lists of them.” — Taylor Swift

ALBUM ART
The photos for the album, shot by photographer Beth Garrabrant, are characterized by a grayscale, black and white filter. Regarding the references going into the project, Beth Garrabrant said:

“From the very beginning Taylor had a clear idea of what she wanted for the album’s visuals. We looked at Surrealist work, imagery that toyed with human scale in nature. We also looked at early autochromes, ambrotypes, and photo storybooks from the 1940s. I was thrilled when Taylor said that she envisioned the series in black-and-white and that she was keen on having everything shot on film.” — Beth Garrabrant

Taylor styled herself for the photoshoot, including her own hair and makeup. The digital cover artwork depicts her in a misty forest with a morning fog in the distance, standing alone, wearing a long, double-breasted plaid coat over a white prairie dress, gazing “in awe” at the height of the trees meadow. On the backside cover, she stands turned away from the camera, wearing a slouchy flannel-lined denim jacket slumped around her arms, and a white lace frock, with two loose braided buns low towards her nape.

COMMERCIAL PERFORMANCE
“folklore” turned out be to be a massive success for Taylor and broke many records in the first 10 weeks of its release. It topped the Billboard Hot 200 list for 8 weeks. In November 2020, it achieved the monumental feat of selling 1 million copies in the US, becoming the first million-seller of 2020.