Using a set of characters and story arcs to depict fictional narratives, the album departs from the autobiographical songwriting that had characterized Swift's past albums. Experimenting with new musical styles,Folklore consists of mellowballads driven bypiano,strings, and mutedpercussion; music critics classify the genre as asoft blend ofalternative,ambient,chamber,electronic,folk,indie,pop, androck styles. The album's title was inspired by the lasting legacy of folktales, and its visual aesthetic adopts acottagecore style.
Folklore was accompanied by the concert documentaryFolklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, featuring Swift's commentary and performances. The album topped the charts in Australasia and various European countries and wascertified platinum or higher in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it spent eight weeks atop theBillboard 200, was the best-selling album of 2020, and was certified six-times platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America. Three songs, "Cardigan", "The 1", and "Exile" featuringBon Iver, reached the top 10 on international singles charts, with "Cardigan" peaking at number one on theBillboard Hot 100.
Folklore received widespread critical acclaim for its emotional weight and intricate lyricism; some journalists commented that its introspective tone was timely for the pandemic, and they regarded its sound as a bold reinvention of Swift's artistry. Many publications featured the album on their 2020 year-end rankings, andRolling Stone included it in their 2023 revision of their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.Folklore wonAlbum of the Year at the63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman to win the award three times. The album informed the concept of Swift's next record,Evermore (2020), and has inspired other artists' works.
In April 2020,Taylor Swift was set to embark on Lover Fest, a concert tour in support of her seventh studio albumLover (2019), which was cancelled following theCOVID-19 pandemic.[1] On July 23, 2020, nine photos were uploaded to Swift'sInstagram account, all without captions, forming a black and white image of her standing alone in a forest. Subsequently, Swift made another post across all her social media accounts, announcing that her eighth studio album would be released at midnight; Swift stated: "Most of the things I had planned this summer didn't end up happening, but there is something I hadn't planned on that DID happen. And that thing is my 8th studio album,Folklore". She confirmed the image as the album's cover artwork and revealed the track list.[2]The Wall Street Journal opined that the surprise announcement "caught fans and the music business off-guard".[3]Billboard stated that it "blindsided the pop music world", arriving as "exciting news" duringlockdown.[4]Folklore was released eleven months afterLover—the fastest turnaround for a Swift studio album at the time, beating the one year and nine month gap betweenReputation (2017) andLover. In another post, Swift announced that the music video for the track "Cardigan" would be released at the same time as the album.[5]
During theYouTube premiere countdown to the "Cardigan" music video, Swift hinted that the album lyrics contained many of her signatureEaster eggs: "One thing I did purposely on this album was put the Easter eggs in the lyrics, more than just the videos. I created character arcs and recurring themes that map out who is singing about who... For example, there's a collection of three songs I refer to as the Teenage Love Triangle. These three songs explore a love triangle from all three people's perspectives at different times in their lives".[6] She referred to the album as "wistful and full ofescapism. Sad, beautiful, tragic. Like a photo album full of imagery, and all the stories behind that imagery",[7] described "Cardigan" as a song that explores "lost romance and why young love is often fixed so permanently in our memories,"[8] and identified the self-written track, "My Tears Ricochet", as the first song she wrote for the album.[7]Uproxx narrated, "on Thursday night, that hand-drawn 'T' and 'S' could be seen up and down the timeline. Music fans and critics across genres unveiled hot takes, quoted lyrics likeMyspace teens writing on the back of textbooks or crafting the perfectAIM away message, and debatedFolklore's place in the unimpeachable Taylor Swift canon."[9]
Swift did not expect to create an album in early 2020.[10] After the cancellation of Lover Fest,[1] Swiftquarantined herself, during which she watched numerous films and shows, such asRear Window (1954),L.A. Confidential (1997),Pan's Labyrinth (2006),Jane Eyre (2011),Marriage Story (2019),[10] andThe Last Dance (2020),[11] and read more books than she ever did, books that "dealt with times past, a world that doesn't exist anymore", such asRebecca (1938) byDaphne du Maurier.[12] The fictions inspired Swift to venture beyond her usual autobiographical style of songwriting and experiment with different narrative standpoints.[10] In isolation during the lockdown, she let her imagination "run wild", ensuing in a set of imagery and visuals that consequently becameFolklore.[13]
It started with imagery. Visuals that popped into my mind and piqued my curiosity. Stars drawn around scars. Acardigan that still bears the scent of loss twenty years later.Battleships sinking into the ocean, down, down, down. The tree swing in the woods of my childhood. Hushed tones of "let's run away" and never doing it. The sun drenched month of August, sipped away like a bottle of wine. A mirrored disco ball hovering above a dance floor. Awhiskey bottle beckoning. Hands held through plastic. A single thread that, for better or for worse, ties you to your fate. Pretty soon these images in my head grew faces or names and became characters. I found myself not only writing my own stories, but also writing about or from the perspective of people I've never met, people I've known, or those I wish I hadn't.
Some of the imagery the singer developed includes: "An exiled man walking the bluffs of a land that isn't his own, wondering how it all went so terribly, terribly wrong. An embittered tormentor showing up at the funeral of his fallen object of obsession. A seventeen-year-old standing on a porch, learning to apologize. Lovestruck kids wandering up and down the evergreenHigh Line. My grandfather, Dean,landing at Guadalcanal in 1942. A misfit widow getting gleeful revenge on the town that cast her out".[13] Swift "poured all of [her] whims, dreams, fears, and musings" into the songs, and reached out to her "musical heroes" to collaborate with.[14] She initially planned to releaseFolklore in early 2021, but it "ended up being done" sooner, and released in July 2020 without giving it second thoughts. She approached the album's creation without subjecting herself to any rules, and explained that she "used to put all these parameters on [herself], like, "How will this song sound in a stadium? How will this song sound on radio?" If you take away all the parameters, what do you make? And I guess the answer isFolklore."[12]
Swift's songwriting drifted towards escapism andromanticism forFolklore.[12] She enlisted two producers to achieve her desired sound—her longtime collaborator,Jack Antonoff, who worked with her on1989 (2014),Reputation, andLover, and first-time collaboratorAaron Dessner, guitarist of Americanindie rock bandthe National.[15] Due to COVID-19 concerns, Swift, Antonoff, and Dessner quarantined remotely, separate from each other, creatingFolklore by continually exchanging digital files of instrumentals and vocals.[16] The album ensued from aDIY process,[17]mixed andengineered by personnel scattered across the US.[4]
Folklore features production fromAaron Dessner (pictured left) andJack Antonoff (right); Dessner produced the majority of tracks.
Swift had previously met the National on aSaturday Night Live episode in 2014, and attended one of their concerts in 2019, where she talked to Dessner and his twin brotherBryce.[18] She asked Aaron Dessner about his songwriting technique, because it is her "favorite thing to ask people who I'm a fan of", and he replied his band members live in different parts of the world, and that he would make instrumental tracks and send them to the lead singer,Matt Berninger, who would write the lyrics—this ignited Swift's idea to create music in quarantine.[12]
Due to the pandemic, all recording studios were closed, so Swift built a home studio at herLos Angeles residence, named Kitty Committee, with help from engineer Laura Sisk.[10] Antonoff, with whom Swift worked on five songs from the album, operated from New York City while Sisk recorded Swift's vocals in Los Angeles. "My Tears Ricochet" was the first song written forFolklore. Swift wrote it about her ties withScott Borchetta, founder ofher old record label, coming to an abrupt end.[10] Antonoff compared the writing process of "Mirrorball" and "August" to that of "Out of the Woods" (2014).[19] Swift wrote "Mirrorball" following the cancellation of Lover Fest, as an ode to fans who find solace in her music and concerts.[20] She wrote "August" about a fictitiousmistress, and "This Is Me Trying" based on multiple narratives, such as dealing with addiction, and her own mental health in 2016 and 2017 when she felt she was "worth absolutely nothing."[10]
In late April, Swift approached Dessner to co-write some songs remotely. He worked on eleven of the album's 16 tracks over the next few months.[21] Dessner "thought it would take a while for song ideas to come" and "had no expectations as far as what we could accomplish remotely", but was surprised that "a few hours after sharing music, my phone lit up with a voice memo from Taylor of a fully written song—the momentum never really stopped."[22] Swift and Dessner "were pretty much in touch daily for three or four months by text and phone calls."[18] He would mail her folders of instrumentals, and she would write the "entire top line"—melody and lyrics, and "he wouldn't know what the song would be about, what it was going to be called, where [she] was going to put the chorus."[12] The first song the duo wrote was "Cardigan", which is based on one of Dessner's sketches called "Maple".[22] "Cardigan" was followed by "Seven" and "Peace".[23] Upon hearing the composition of "Peace", Swift felt an "immediate sense of serenity" that roused the feeling of being peaceful, but felt it would be "too on-the-nose" to sing about finding peace; she instead wrote about complex "conflicted" feelings contrasting the track's calming sound,[10] and recorded it in one vocal take.[18]
A few weeks later, when Swift and Dessner had written "six or seven" songs, she explained him her concept ofFolklore.[23] She told him about the work she had done earlier with Antonoff, concluding that both of her works resonate as an album.[22] Swift and Dessner also wrote "The Last Great American Dynasty", "Mad Woman", and "Epiphany", the first of which has an array of electric guitars inspired byRadiohead's 2007 surprise albumIn Rainbows.[22] The lyrics document American socialiteRebekah Harkness, whom Swift had been wanting to write about ever since she bought theHoliday House in 2013.[10] Dessner composed the piano melody for "Mad Woman" with his earlier work on "Cardigan" and "Seven" in mind.[23] On "Epiphany", he slowed down and reversed the sounds of different instruments to create a "giant stack of harmony", and added piano for a cinematic trope.[22] Swift wrote the song based on the experiences of herveteran grandfather, and healthcare workers in the pandemic.[10]
Swift wrote two songs, "Exile" and "Betty", with her then-boyfriend, English actorJoe Alwyn. She developed "Exile" as aduet, and Dessner recorded a draft of her singing both the male and female parts.[23] Swift and Dessner ran through candidates for the male partner, and Swift liked the voice ofBon Iver'sJustin Vernon, who is one half of the American indie rock bandBig Red Machine, along with Dessner.[18] Dessner sent the song to Vernon, who liked the song, added his own lyrics, and sang his part.[22] "Betty" is the only song on the album produced by both Dessner and Antonoff; Swift was influenced byBob Dylan'sThe Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) andJohn Wesley Harding (1967) for its composition.[23][22] Alwyn used the pseudonym William Bowery for his credits. Upon the album's release,mainstream media and fans pointed out Bowery's lack of online presence,[24][21] and presumed that it was actually a pseudonym for Alwyn, which was later ultimately confirmed by Swift.[25][26][27] Swift added that he also penned the chorus of "Betty", and the piano line and first verse in "Exile".[28] The last two songs written were "The 1" and "Hoax", the first and last songs on the album respectively; Swift wrote both in a span of a few hours.[22] Speaking about his collaboration with her, Dessner commented, "there's a palpable humanity and warmth and raw emotion in these songs that I hope you'll love and take comfort in as much as I do."[29]
In a November 2020Rolling Stone interview withPaul McCartney, Swift stated she began using words in the album's lyrics that she always wanted to use, not worrying about whether it would suit radio. She used "bigger, flowerier, prettier" words such as "epiphany", "elegies", and "divorcée", just because they "sound beautiful". Swift disclosed that she maintains lists of such words, and recalled using one such, "kaleidoscope", in "Welcome to New York" (2014).[12] In a December 2020Entertainment Weekly interview, Swift said the lyrics, melodies, and production ofFolklore are the way she wanted them, without subjecting to others' expectations.[10]
Taylor has opened the door for artists to not feel pressure to have "the bop". To make the record that she made, while running against what is programmed in radio at the highest levels ofpop music—she has kind of made an anti-pop record.
— Dessner on Swift's new sonic direction inFolklore,Billboard[30]
Folklore was written and recorded in secrecy. Swift, her boyfriend, family, management team, Antonoff, and Dessner were aware of the album's creation; she did not disclose the news or play the album to her friends as she did with her previous works.[10] Near the end ofFolklore's recording process, Dessner reached out to his regular collaborators, including the National bandmates, to provide instrumentation remotely.[23] Bryceorchestrated several songs, whileBryan Devendorf performed the drums in "Seven".[15] Dessner kept Swift's involvement confidential from his family and colleagues until the announcement.[31] While filming the "Cardigan" music video, Swift wore an earpiece andlip-synced to the song to prevent it from leaking.[32] Dessner stated that Swift's label,Republic Records, was unaware of the album until hours before its launch.[18]
A tale that becomesfolklore is one that is passed down and whispered around. Sometimes even sung about. The lines between fantasy and reality blur and the boundaries between truth and fiction become almost indiscernible. Speculation, over time, becomes fact. Myths, ghost stories, andfables. Fairytales andparables. Gossip andlegend. Someone's secrets written in the sky for all to behold. 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. Now it's up to you to pass them down.
The standard edition ofFolklore is about an hour and three minutes long, consisting of 16 tracks, while the deluxe edition adds a bonus song, "The Lakes", as the seventeenth track. Bon Iver is featured on "Exile", the fourth track.Folklore was written and produced by Swift, Dessner, Antonoff, and Alwyn, with additional writing credit to Vernon, the lead vocalist of Bon Iver, on "Exile".[15][34] It is Swift's first album to carry anexplicit content label.[35]
Devoid of radio-friendly pop songs,[6][53]Folklore eschews the mainstream sound of Swift's older works.[45] It consists of mellow, cinematic, slow-pacedballads,[22][54][45] with aminimal,[44]lo-fi production,[55][56] and elegantmelodies, together lending a modern spin on traditional songwriting.[54] It is built around soft,[40] sparse[44] and sonorous pianos,[54] moody,[44] picked[54] and burbling guitars,[40] glitchy and fracturedelectronic elements,[40] subliminal,[43] throbbing percussions,[57] mellowprogrammed drums,Mellotron,[45] sweeping orchestrations[44] with etherealstrings[39] and meditativehorns.[58] The album does not fully avoid plush synths and programmed beats characteristic of Swift's pop music, but instead dials them down to a subtle texture,[54] delivering anelectroacoustic soundscape,[59] which highlights Swift's voice and lyrics.[60][45][39]Rolling Stone stated the album's tone resembles "Safe & Sound", Swift's 2012 single forThe Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond.[6]The Ringer noted that Antonoff confers a synth-based style to the record, while Dessner contributes a piano-leaning sound, and linkedFolklore to two songs onLover—"The Archer" and "It's Nice to Have a Friend"—as Swift's albums "usually have a couple tracks that harken back to the previous album or wind up connecting them to the next".[61]
Folklore consists of songs exploring points of view that diverge from Swift's life, includingthird-person narratives[58] written from perspectives of characters that interweave across the tracks.[22] Its songwriting style combinesballadeering with autobiographical experiences and character-driven storytelling,[62] and is primarily distinguished by themes of wistfulness, escapism,[63]nostalgia,[22] contemplation,[64] andempathy.[52] Although Swift opted for a new sound, the album retains stylistic aspects of her trademark songwriting, such as mournful delivery andbildungsroman passion.[61]
Compared to much of her older discography,Folklore reflected Swift's deepening self-awareness,[40] introspection,[46] and vivid storytelling[38] that showed a higher degree of fictionalization and fewer self-references,[45] culminating in an outward-looking approach.[52] The lyricism is both personal and fictional, and a blend of both at times.[65] The emotional and narrative range ofFolklore is widened by expanding the focus from Swift's personal stories to imagined characters andpersonifications.[64]
The narratives described inFolklore include a ghost finding its murderer at its funeral, a seven-year-old girl with a traumatized friend, an old widow spurned by her town, recoveringalcoholics, and alove triangle between the fictional characters Betty, James, and an unnamed woman,[note 1] as depicted in the tracks "Cardigan", "Betty" and "August", with each of the three songs written from each of the character's perspective in different times in their lives.[6]NPR'sAnn Powers definedFolklore as a "body constructed of memory, a shared sense of the world, built of myths, heard stories", based on the idea that "we each have our own folklore", with the album being Swift's folklore.[68] Many songs on the album exude a cinematic quality in their lyrics,[69] and reference objects and phenomena in nature, such as asolar eclipse,Saturn,auroras, purple-pink skies,salt air,weeds, andWisteria.[70]
"The 1", the opening track, is asoft rock tune[71] driven by a bouncy arrangement of piano,minimal percussion, and electronic accents.[40] From the perspective of Swift's friend, "The 1" describes a newfound positive approach to life and past love, wishing they could have beensoulmates.[38][22] The slow-burning "Cardigan" is a folk[72] ballad driven by moody, stripped-down instrumentals consisting of drums and tender piano;[73][74] Swift sings from the perspective of a fictional character named Betty,[57] who recalls the separation and enduring optimism of a relationship with a boy named James.[69]
"The Last Great American Dynasty" is an alternativeindie pop tune with classical instruments likeslide guitar,viola, violins, drums and glitchy production elements.[38][75] Thesatirical song tells the story of Rebekah Harkness, the founder ofHarkness Ballet, when she resided in Swift's Rhode Island mansion. It details how Harkness married into an upper-class family, was hated by the town, and blamed for the death of her then-husband and heir toStandard Oil, William Harkness (referred to in the song as Bill), and the fall of his family's name, and draws parallels with Swift's life.[76][47] "Exile" is agospel-influenced,[59] indie folk[77] duet with Bon Iver, fusing Swift's soft vocals with Vernon's growlingbaritone,[78] serving as an unspoken, argumentative conversation between two former lovers.[77] It begins with a plodding piano and reaches a dramatic climax accompanied by strings, synths,[79] and harmonies.[39]
Sung from the perspective of a deceased lover's ghost, "My Tears Ricochet" is an icyarena-goth song[82] that reflects on the tensions following the end of a marital relationship,[10] usingfunereal imagery—ametaphor for Scott Borchetta andhis sale of the masters of Swift's older catalogue.[69][10] It encompasses amusic box, backing choir,reverbedad-libs in thebridge, and reaches a tumultuous climax over shuddering drums.[38][81] "Mirrorball" is a folk-tinged dream pop song,[83] driven bypedal steel and twanging guitars.[84][82] Its lyrics portray Swift as adisco ball, pertaining to the reflective quality, describing her ability to entertain people with her music by making herself vulnerable and sensitive.[85][69]
In "Seven", Swift sings in an innocent tone,[85][40] reminiscing about an abused friend from her childhood in Pennsylvania,[86] whom she cannot fully remember but still has fond memories of, over a resonant arrangement consisting of flurrying strings and piano.[40] "August" is a gloomy dream-pop song[39] that captures the summer affair between two young lovers—a naive girl who is seen holding on to a boy that "wasn't hers to lose";[57] the boy is revealed to be James, later in the album.[69] The song depicts the girl grieve and yearn over her love, using Swift's light and breezy delivery, "yo-yoing" vocal yelps, and a grandiose production driven by acoustic guitar, glistening vocal reverb, andkey changes.[39][69]
The ninth track, "This Is Me Trying", is anorchestral pop song detailing the accountability and regret of analcoholic who admits feeling inadequate.[82][69] It contains Swift's "ghostly", reverberated vocals and a gradually growing, dense production.[40][85] Over an acoustic arrangement of finger-plucked strings and soft horns,[39] "Illicit Affairs" unfolds the infidelity of a disloyal narrator and highlights the measures they carry out to keep the affair a secret.[85][84] "Invisible String" is a folk song[87] that provides a glimpse into Swift's love life with Alwyn, recounting the "invisible" connection between them that they were not aware of until they met,alluding to an East Asianfolk myth called theRed Thread of Fate.[69] It comprises an acoustic riff, thumping vocalbackbeats,[87][69] a distinctpassive writing style,[53] and references her older songs.[69]
"Mad Woman" tackles thetaboo linked with female anger,[69] using sarcastic remarks atsexism,[57][84] asFolklore's moment of vituperation.[45] It metaphorically describes Swift's dispute with Borchetta andScooter Braun,[10] painting the story of a deviant widow getting revenge, with references towitch hunts.[47] "Epiphany" is anambienthymn.[83][84] It depicts the devastation of the pandemic, paying homage to healthcare workers, with whom she empathizes, comparing them to traumatized military soldiers,[57] such as herveteran grandfather, Dean, who fought at theBattle of Guadalcanal (1942).[69] The song is carried by a glacial piano[87] and a howlingbrass.[81]
The fourteenth track, "Betty", is a country and folk rock song with prominent harmonica.[38][84] It describes the relationship narrated in "Cardigan", but from the perspective of the cheating boyfriend James,[57] who had a summer fling with the female narrator of "August".[84] James apologizes for his past actions but does not fully own up to them, citing excuses.[47] Its characters (Betty, James, and Inez) are named after the daughters ofBlake Lively andRyan Reynolds.[88] TheR&B-inclining "Peace" featuresjazzy vocals with a complex vocal melody.[82][22] over apulse juxtaposed with three lushly harmonizedbasslines,[57][23] complemented by minimal synths and a drizzling piano.[59] Lyrically, "Peace" is anode to Swift's lover,[82] dissects the effects of hectic stardom on her relationship, and warns the subject of future challenges.[89][85]
The standard edition of the album closes with "Hoax", a slow piano ballad with emotionally raw lyrics that detail a flawed but everlasting relationship,[47][22] ending the album on a despondent note of sadness.[90] The deluxe bonus track, "The Lakes", is a string-ladenmidtempo song[90] that introspects on Swift's semi-retirement in England'sLake District;[6] the location is also mentioned in "Invisible String".[69] Imagining a red rose growing out oftundra "with no one around to tweet it", Swift fantasizes about a social-media-freeutopia,[45] referencingWilliam Wordsworth, an English poet known for his Romantic writings.[90]
From the very beginning, Taylor had a clear idea of what she wanted for the album's visuals. We looked atSurrealist work, imagery that toyed with human scale in nature. We also looked at earlyautochromes,ambrotypes, and photo storybooks from the 1940s.
— Beth Garrabrant, Meet the photographer behind Taylor Swift'sFolklore artwork,i-D[91]
Folklore's album art, packaging, and lyric videos were created through a DIY approach.[10] Swift collaborated with photographerBeth Garrabrant for the artworks, without a technical team due to COVID-19 concerns. The photoshoot marked a change from Swift's older shoots, where she would have "100 people on set, commanding alongside other people in a very committee fashion." She styled herself, including hair, makeup, and wardrobe, and prescribed Garrabrant a specificmoodboard.[10] The photographs are characterized by agrayscale, black and white filter.[92][53]
The standard cover art depicts Swift as a 19th-century pioneersleepwalking in a nightgown.[10] She is seen standing alone in a misty forest covered by morning fog,[93] wearing a long,double-breastedplaid coat over a whiteprairie dress,[94] gazing at the height of the trees.[95] On the backside cover, she stands turned away from the camera, wearing a slouchyflannel-lined denim jacket slumped around her arms, and a white lacefrock, with two loosebraidedbuns low over her nape, similar toAmerican Girl dollKirsten Larson.[94][93] The album title is written in anitalicized roman font reminiscent of "aChronicles of Narnia scrawl".[96][97] The photos were shot at Swift's friend's house inLewisboro, New York.[98] "So, I called my friend who has some woods behind her house and was like, 'Can I take some pictures in your forest?' She said yes," Swift said. "I ordered all these night gowns online and brought them and did my own hair and makeup and just was like, 'I guess I'll braid it, I don't know.'"[99]
Folklore logo
In December 2020,Jimmy Kimmel interviewed Swift about the presence of the word "Woodvale" on the cover of "Hide and Seek" edition ofFolklore, which some suspected to be the title of a new album afterEvermore; Swift denied it and said she did not revealFolklore's title to anyone until just before its release and used "Woodvale" as a code name, which was included in an artwork for reference, but was accidentally printed in the final products.[100]
Reflecting its lyrical motifs of escapism,[101]Folklore sees Swift embracing arustic,[53]nature-focused,[92]cottagecore[94][102] aesthetic for the project, moving away from the "technicolorcarnival" of its predecessor,Lover.[103] The music video for "Cardigan" expands on the cottagecore motif, and starts with her sitting at avintage piano in a cozycabin in the woods. The video features amoss-covered forest and a waterfall-producing piano. On her website, Swift sold replicas of the "folklore cardigan" she wore in the video—a cream coloredcable knit, with silver embroidered stars on the sleeves' chunky elbows, and navy bluepiping and buttons.[94]
W regarded the cardigan as the "pièce de résistance" of the aesthetic, and thought the eight cover artworks ofFolklore have Swift "frolicking through the woods like a cottagecore queen".[104]Irish Independent wrote that she became a "rural tunesmith communing with the birds and the trees", dressed up in a bulky "Clancy Brothers-style"Aran sweater.[105]RTÉ thanked Swift for putting cardigans "back on the map once more".[106] Noting that her album eras have been defined by their own color scheme, fashion, and cultural motifs,Teen Vogue describedFolklore as simple, neutral-toned wear, with the cardigan helping in understanding the sentimental role clothing plays.[107] Cottagecore faced a resurgence on the internet after Swift used the aesthetic,[108] with a sales surge of hand-knitted Aran sweaters in Ireland and the US.[109]
Folklore was asurprise album. It marked the first time Swift abandoned her traditional album rollout, opting to release suddenly due to intuition; she stated, "If you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world." She unveiled the album via her social media on July 23, 2020, 16 hours prior to its release todigital music platforms at midnight.[112] Swift informed Republic Records about the new album only a few hours before its release,[18] thus it was not widely and immediately available atretail.[113] Deluxe CDs and vinyl LPs with seven other alternate covers were sold exclusively on Swift's website.[114] The standard edition "In the Trees" CDs ofFolklore were released to retail on August 7, 2020,[115] while "Meet Me Behind the Mall" CDs were made exclusive toTarget.[116] In the United Kingdom, CDs were made available on August 4, 2020, byEMI Records.[117] The formerly physically exclusiveFolklore deluxe, featuring the bonus track "The Lakes", was released to digital platforms on August 18, 2020.[34]
Starting on August 20, 2020, a limited number of autographedFolklore CDs were delivered to variousindie record shops in the US and Scotland to supportsmall businesses in the pandemic.[118][119] Swift mailed herFolklore cardigans to celebrity friends and well-wishers.[120] Four six-song compilations ofFolklore tracks were released to streaming, based on the thematic cohesion between them;The Escapism Chapter,The Sleepless Nights Chapter,The Saltbox House Chapter, andThe Yeah I Showed Up at Your Party Chapter were released in August–September 2020.[121] Swift's ninth studio album,Evermore, is a sequel toFolklore. She dubbed them "sister albums".[122]
"Cardigan" serves as the lead single ofFolklore.[123] It was accompanied by a music video posted to YouTube, directed by Swift and produced by Jil Hardin. Both were released on July 24, 2020, alongside the album.[5] It was serviced to US pop andadult popradio formats on July 27.[124][125] The song debuted at number one on theBillboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Swift's sixth chart-topper and second number-one debut.[126]Billboard noted a unique radio rollout forFolklore, where a few of its tracks were simultaneously promoted to multiple radio formats. While "Cardigan" impacted pop and adult contemporary,[127] "Exile" was sent toadult alternative radio on August 3, 2020, which had initially peaked at number six on the Hot 100,[128][126] whereas "Betty" was sent tocountry radio on August 17,[129] after arriving at number six on theHot Country Songs chart.[130] "The 1" was released as apromotional single in Germany on October 9, 2020;[131] "The 1" had previously reached number four on the Hot 100.[126] On July 24, 2021, the first anniversary ofFolklore, the original orchestral version of "The Lakes" was also released as a promotional single.[132]
A concertdocumentary, titledFolklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, was released on November 25, 2020, toDisney+. It was directed and produced by Swift, seeing her perform all the tracks ofFolklore in an intimate setting at Long Pond Studio, and sharing the stories behind the songs, with Antonoff and Dessner.[16] Alongside the film's premiere, Swift's third live album,Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (From the Disney+ Special), containing the acoustic versions from the film, was released to streaming platforms.[133][134]
Folklore was met with widespread acclaim frommusic critics, who praised its emotional weight andintrospective songwriting,[139] calling it Swift's most subdued and sophisticated body of work yet.[140] AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received anaverage score of 88, based on 27 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[136]
Rob Sheffield ofRolling Stone lauded Swift's songwriting abilities that brought out her "deepest wit, compassion, and empathy", makingFolklore her most intimate album so far.[6] Also noting the album's vivid storytelling filled with imagination and imagery,Pitchfork's Jillian Mapes consideredFolklore a mature step in Swift's artistry while retaining her core as a celebrated songwriter.[44] Mark Savage ofBBC classifiedFolklore as an indie record dealing with nostalgia and mistakes that resonate with the times.[141] Katie Moulton fromConsequence appreciated Swift's maturity, particularly the employment of third-person perspectives that had been uncommon in her previous works.[80] Complimenting the album's writing,The Daily Telegraph'sNeil McCormick,[54]i's Sarah Carson,[57] andThe Sydney Morning Herald's Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen,[39] gave the album full-score ratings. DescribingFolklore as a bold attempt, Hannah Mylrea ofNME praised Swift's ability to evoke vivid imagery, but said that the 16-song run can "sometimes drag slightly".[38]
Several critics welcomed Swift's new musical direction. Chris Willman ofVariety consideredFolklore to be a "first-rank album" and its change of musical style a "serious act of sonic palette cleansing" for Swift.[45] Laura Snapes ofThe Guardian considered it to be the most cohesive and the most experimental among Swift's releases.[40]Entertainment Weekly'sMaura Johnston deemed the album a bold move for a pop star like Swift to challenge its audience.[86] Roisin O'Connor ofThe Independent praised the album's "exquisite, piano-based poetry", which she found unconventional for Swift's catalog.[138]AllMusic'sStephen Thomas Erlewine was positive towards the album but felt its musical styles are not "precisely new tricks" for Swift.[137] In agreement,Annie Zaleski ofThe A.V. Club deemed the album not completely experimental, but still a new aspect of Swift's artistry.[87] In his "Consumer Guide" column,Robert Christgau was most moved by the youth-themed "Seven" and "Betty" than the more adult songs, which he summarized as "melodically fetching, lyrically deft pop songs that are fine as far as they go". He singled out "The Last Great American Dynasty" as the only intolerable song for how it reminds him of "Taylor Swift the showbiz plutocrat".[142] In a mixed review,The New York Times criticJon Caramanica praised Swift's songwriting but felt the album is burdened by "desolate" and "overcomposed" indie rock.[51]
In the US,Folklore topped theBillboard 200 chart for eight weeks, becoming the longest-charting album at number one of 2020.[158] WithFolklore, Swift became the first woman with seven number-one debuts,[113] the first act inNielsen SoundScan history since 1991 to have seven albums each sell 500,000 or more copies in a week,[113] the first woman sinceBarbra Streisand to have 6 albums each spend multiple weeks at number one,[159] the first solo or female artist (and second afterthe Beatles) to have 5 albums each top the chart for at least six weeks,[160][161] and the first musician in the 21st century to have six albums each spend at least four weeks at number one.[162] In December 2020,Evermore charted at number one andFolklore at number three on theBillboard 200, making Swift the first woman to chart two albums in the top three the same week.[163]Folklore was the US best-selling album of 2020 and eighth-best-selling of 2021; Swift became the first act to have a best-selling album of a calendar year five times, followingFearless (2009),1989 (2014),Reputation (2017), andLover (2019).[164][165] By January 2024, it had sold 2.289 million copies in the US.[166]Billboard attributed the album's success to its timing, pandemic-suited songs, and Swift's ability to connect with listeners.[167]
Folklore also debuted at number one on theAlternative Albums chart, becoming Swift's first entry and the chart's biggest debut in history.[168] All of its 16 tracks debuted simultaneously on theBillboard Hot 100, registering the record for the most simultaneous Hot 100 debuts for a female musician; three songs charted in the top 10 and five in the top 20.[169] Swift became the first act to debut atop both theBillboard 200 and Hot 100 the same week, with the number-one debut of "Cardigan". She also became the first act to debut two songs in the top four and three songs in the top six, with "The 1" at number four and "Exile" at number six.[126] On theHot Rock & Alternative Songs chart,Folklore debuted 11 tracks, of which eight were in the top 10, setting the record for the most top-10 entries.[168]
In the English-speaking world,Folklore established several chart records. In the UK, it made Swift the first woman to have five number-one albums on theUK Albums Chart in the 21st century,[175][176] and was her first album to spend multiple weeks at number one (three weeks).[177] On theUK Singles Chart, "Cardigan", "Exile", and "The 1" opened at numbers six, eight, and 10, making Swift the first woman in UK history to concurrently debut three songs in the top 10.[178] In Ireland,Folklore helped Swift become the first solo female act with five number ones on theIrish Albums Chart of the 21st century, and it spent four weeks at number one.[179][180][181] In Australia, it was Swift's sixth number one on theARIA Albums Chart, giving her more chart toppers during 2010–2020 than any other artist.[182] All of its 16 tracks entered the top 50 of theARIA Singles Chart, setting the all-time record for the most debuts. With "Cardigan" at number one and "Exile", "The 1", "The Last Great American Dynasty", and "My Tears Ricochet" in the top 10, Swift became the act with the most Australian top-ten hits of 2020.[183]Folklore topped the chart for four consecutive weeks, becoming the only 2020 album to top the chart for more than two weeks,[184][185] and the country's best-selling album by a woman in 2020.[186]
Elsewhere,Folklore reached number one in BelgianFlanders,[187] Canada,[188] Czech Republic,[189] Denmark,[190] Estonia,[191] Finland,[192] Greece,[193] Norway,[194] and Switzerland.[195] In China, the album sold more than 200,000 copies in its first six hours and around 740,000 copies in its first week, instantly becoming the best-selling and fastest-selling album of 2020 by a Western act.[196][197]Folklore was the best-selling foreign album of 2020 in Japan.[198]
Swift performing theFolklore act of herEras Tour (2023)
Folklore's release ignited widespread interest in the term "folklore" on the internet. In response to this mainstream attention, theAmerican Folklore Society launched a website titled "What is Folklore?" and engaged in an online campaign to educate the public aboutfolklore studies. Folklorists were recruited to promote the academic field to the general public via social media.[217] Metacritic'straffic skyrocketed by roughly half a million views uponFolklore's release. The site's founder, Marc Doyle, stated, "There's nothing quite like Taylor Swift", whose albums supply "a great deal of traffic and user participation" to the site whenever they are released.[218]
The album has been contextualized as a lockdown project by commentators[219] and earned a reputation as the archetypalquarantine album.[220]The Guardian opined thatFolklore was a respite from chaotic events.[64]The Daily Telegraph called it "an exquisite, empathetic lockdown triumph".[54]NME wrote the album will be remembered as "the quintessential lockdown album" that "felt like the perfect accompaniment for the weird loneliness" of 2020.[221][157]Insider stated thatFolklore would be known as "lockdown's one true masterpiece".[145]Rolling Stone said the album may go down in history as "the definitive quarantine album" for providing comfort and catharsis, "just when we needed it most".[144]Billboard proclaimed thatFolklore would be cherished as one of Swift's most influential albums.[4]Uproxx noted howFolklore changed the tone of music in 2020,[222] and its impact on the year's cultural landscape "can't be measured".[148]
In a list awarding the most creative works that shaped quarantine,Vulture labeledFolklore as 2020's "Best Breakdown in Musical Form" for addressing topics of loneliness.[223]Vogue listed the album amongst the best moments of lockdown culture.[224]The Week called it "the first great pandemic art" for setting "a high bar" for future pandemic-inspired projects.[225]Financial Times called it "the first great lockdown album",[226] whileHot Press termed it "the first great album of the lockdown era".[227] Judging from its acclaim and commercial success, criticTom Hull concluded that Swift "caught the spirit of the times" withFolklore.[228]Billboard namedFolklore andEvermore as the best examples of innovative albums from artists who amended their creative process during the pandemic,[229] and in a list titled "The 25 Musical Moments That Defined the First Quarter of the 2020s", called the album a "commercial smash" that stands as "one of the quintessential quarantine full-lengths".[230] In 2023,The New York Times namedFolklore as one of the "17pop culture moments that define the COVID era".[231]Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 170 in their 2023 revision of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"[232] and number five in their 2025 list "The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far".[233]
My world felt opened up creatively. There was a point that I got to as a writer who only wrote very diaristic songs that I felt it was unsustainable for my future moving forward. So what I felt after we put outFolklore was like "oh wow, people are into this too, this thing that feels really good for my life and feels really good for my creativity... it feels good for them too?"
— Swift on howFolklore changed her creative process moving forward,Apple Music 1[234]
The making of and rave reception toFolklore encouraged Swift to releaseEvermore. Swift herself has creditedFolklore for ushering in a new mindset of songwriting in her repertoire, which in turn influenced her subsequent releases.[62]Folklore was the most popular album of 2020 onGenius,[235] and Swift was the top searched act.[236] She was also the world's highest-paid solo musician of 2020,[237] and the highest paid in the US, solely due to her incomes from the 2020 albums.[238] In 2023, Swift embarked onthe Eras Tour, which included an act dedicated toFolklore.[239]
^Unterberger, Andrew (December 15, 2023)."Billboard's Greatest Pop Stars of 2023: No. 1 — Taylor Swift".Billboard.Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. RetrievedDecember 16, 2023.Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan [has] acknowledged that the pandemic-era acclaim for herFolklore andEvermore albums helped open a mainstream lane for his brand of alt-folk.
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