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Taylor Swift Announces Surprise New Album folklore, Out at Midnight

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Taylor Swift's folklore

She’s apparently back in the woods. Taylor Swift has announced that her eighth album, folklore, will drop at midnight EST, on Friday, July 24.

The 16-track album includes contributions from the National’s Aaron Dessner (who was involved in 11 tracks, Swift said), Bon Iver, William Bowery and favored producer pal Jack Antonoff.

“Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into,” Swift wrote on social media Thursday morning, alongside a series of grayscale photos of her strolling through the forest. “I wrote and recorded this music in isolation but got to collaborate with some musical heroes of mine.”

A music video for a presumed lead single, “Cardigan,” also premieres at midnight, Swift wrote. The announcement of folklore is a stark departure from Swift’s typically titanic album lead-ups, with months of anticipation and singles promotion. “Before this year I probably would’ve overthought when to release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, but the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed,” Swift wrote. “My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world. That’s the side of uncertainty I can get on board with. Love you guys so much.”

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Choppered and Tuned

Because Taylor is Taylor, there will be eight deluxe CD editions and eight deluxe vinyl editions — to commemorate LP8 — that will be available “for one week,” she wrote. Each deluxe edition has unique covers, photos, and artwork. It’s unclear if that means all eight will drop at once or one will be released each week, replacing its predecessor. Swift’s previous album was 2019’s glittering hugfest Lover.

Dessner explained his involvement in the project in a lengthy statement. He said that Swift reached out to him in April, while he was in quarantine and writing on his own. “But a few hours after sharing music, my phone lit up with a voice memo from Taylor of a fully written version of a song — the momentum never really stopped.”

See his full statement on how the collaboration came together below.

Tracklisting:
“the 1”
“cardigan”
“the last great american dynasty”
“exile” ft. Bon Iver
“my tears ricochet”
“mirrorball”
“seven”
“august”
“this is me trying”
“illicit affairs”
“invisible string”
“mad woman”
“epiphany”
“betty”
“peace”
“hoax”
“the lakes” (bonus track)

 

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