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folklore: the long pond studio sessions
Live Album | November 25, 2020
This article is about the live album. For the concert film, see folklore: the long pond studio sessions.
folklore: the long pond studio sessions is Taylor’s third live album. It contains the acoustic renditions of folklore tracks performed in the folklore: the long pond studio sessions film. The album was released via Republic Records to streaming and digital platforms on November 25, 2020, alongside the film, and in a limited number of vinyl LPs on April 22, 2023.
Table of Contents
Background and Release
In September 2020, Taylor and her co-producers for her eighth studio album, Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, assembled together at Long Pond Studio—a secluded, rustic cabin in upstate New York—to play the complete folklore album for the first time in the same room after isolating themselves separately due to the then-ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The result were the intimate documentary and live album, both called folklore: the long pond studio sessions, where Taylor performs the stripped-down renditions of all 17 tracks in order.
The big twist is that the September sessions were the first time that Taylor, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner were together in the same place. During the pandemic, they had each recorded in their own studios, collaborating long-distance. In a nighttime conversation on a deck at the studio, Taylor said that playing the songs in real time would “make [her] realize it’s a real album. It seems like a big mirage.” Musicians deeply missed performing live; with any other album, she would have gone to tour stadiums.
The album was released via Republic Records to streaming and digital platforms on November 25, 2020, alongside the film.
The big twist is that the September sessions were the first time that Taylor, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner were together in the same place. During the pandemic, they had each recorded in their own studios, collaborating long-distance. In a nighttime conversation on a deck at the studio, Taylor said that playing the songs in real time would “make [her] realize it’s a real album. It seems like a big mirage.” Musicians deeply missed performing live; with any other album, she would have gone to tour stadiums.
The album was released via Republic Records to streaming and digital platforms on November 25, 2020, alongside the film.
Record Store Day
To commemorate the 2023 Record Store Day, a limited vinyl edition of the live album was released on April 22, 2023, exclusively via record shops participating in the event. Variety reported that 115,000 vinyl LPs of the album in total were made available for purchase at independent record shops worldwide, about ten times the amount that were pressed for Taylor’s RSD 2022 single, “the lakes.”
The release of folklore: the long pond studio sessions is a lot more substantial than the 7-inch single release of “the lakes.” Hefty or no, that record was so sought after that some stores held raffles rather than put what copies they had on the racks, or auctioned them for charity. The live album was previously only available digitally following its premiere as a Disney+ special. This two-LP set, pressed on grey vinyl and released in a gatefold jacket, marked the recording’s first physical release.
The release of folklore: the long pond studio sessions is a lot more substantial than the 7-inch single release of “the lakes.” Hefty or no, that record was so sought after that some stores held raffles rather than put what copies they had on the racks, or auctioned them for charity. The live album was previously only available digitally following its premiere as a Disney+ special. This two-LP set, pressed on grey vinyl and released in a gatefold jacket, marked the recording’s first physical release.
Critical Reception
folklore: the long pond studio sessions received universal acclaim from film and music critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 7.30/10. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone praised the cast’s chemistry, and asserted that the long pond studio sessions film is not a mere footnote to the album, but a “stunning musical statement in its own right, full of stripped-down acoustic warmth”. He underlined how Taylor moves past basic anecdotes about the tracks by explaining why she felt the need to write such music in the first place.
Commercial Performance
On May 1, 2023, folklore: the long pond studio sessions debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 75,000 copies, all from Record Store Day vinyls. That week, Taylor simultaneously charted three albums in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 (along with Midnights at No. 4 and Lover at No. 10), joining Whitney Houston as the only female soloist in history to achieve this milestone, and the only living one doing so.
General Information
| Artist | Taylor Swift |
|---|---|
| Released | November 25, 2020 |
| Recorded | September 2020 |
| Studio | Long Pond (Hudson Valley, NY) |
| Genre | Acoustic |
| Length | 106:00 (Digital Releases) 67:25 (Vinyl) |
| Label | Republic Records |
| Producers | Aaron Dessner Jack Antonoff Taylor Swift Joe Alwyn |
Tracklist
Album Artwork
folklore Era
