In a surprise announcement, Taylor Swift revealed that she will be releasing a new album at midnight ET tonight (Thursday, December 10) called “Evermore,” which she described as a “sister” album to her latest release, “Folklore.” A video for a new song from the album called “Willow” will arrive along with the album — Swift will be logging into the YouTube premiere page at midnight to answer questions.
Ever since I was 13, I’ve been excited about turning 31 because it’s my lucky number backwards, which is why I wanted to surprise you with this now. You’ve all been so caring, supportive and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I thought I would give you something! pic.twitter.com/wATiVSTpuV
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) December 10, 2020
The album continues the working relationships from “Folklore,” which was cowritten and coproduced with Jack Antonoff and the National’s Aaron Dessner, and also includes a contribution from “WB,” William Broad, a pseudonym that she recently revealed is her boyfriend, British actor Joe Alwyn. According to the tracklist that Swift posted, it also includes a collaboration with Haim called “No Body, No Crime”; a second duet with Bon Iver (who sang on the “Folklore” song “Exile”) on the title track; and a song with the National as her backing band called “Coney Island.”
The announcement comes as a surprise even to insiders: While Swift has said in recent interviews that she’s been writing, there was no suggestion that a new album was in the works, let alone weeks away from release.
In a series of social media posts on Thursday morning, Swift described the album’s origins. “To put it plainly, we just couldn’t stop writing songs. To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in.
“I’ve never done this before. In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one after an album was released,” she continued. “There was something different with folklore. In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning. I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found into your lives. So I just kept writing them.
“And I loved creating these songs with Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, WB, and Justin Vernon,” Swift’s notes concluded. We’ve also welcomed some new (and longtime) friends to our musical kitchen table this time around… .I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found into your lives. So I just kept writing them.
The string of posts continued with details about the album: “Ever since I was 13, I’ve been excited about turning 31 because it’s my lucky number backwards, which is why I wanted to surprise you with this now,” she wrote to her fans. “You’ve all been so caring, supportive and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I thought I would give you something! I also know this holiday season will be a lonely one for most of us and if there are any of you out there who turn to music to cope with missing loved ones the way I do, this is for you.
“There are 15 tracks on the standard edition of evermore, but the deluxe physical edition will include two bonus tracks – “right where you left me” and “it’s time to go.” All *digital downloads* of the album will include an exclusive, digital booklet with 16 brand new photos. You can pre-order evermore now at taylor.lnk.to/evermorealbum
She also revealed the people who worked on the video: “editor Chancler Haynes, set designers Ethan Tobman and Regina Fernandez and visual effects geniuses Grant Miller and David Lebensfeld. Thank you to our medical inspector who made sure every precaution was taken for our safety.”
Swift used her Instagram page to create a photo-mosaic of what is likely the album’s cover art.
Clearly continuing the pastoral sound and themes of “Folklore,” which has garnered six 2021 Grammy nominations, the album is actually Swift’s third release of the year. In addition to “Folklore,” which was surprise-released on July 24, just two weeks ago, Swift released a video on Disney Plus of live, stripped-down performances of songs from “Folklore” called “The Long Pond Studio Sessions.”
I’m elated to tell you that my 9th studio album, and folklore’s sister record, will be out tonight at midnight eastern. It’s called evermore.
📷: Beth Garrabrant pic.twitter.com/xdej7AzJRW— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) December 10, 2020