Taylor Swift is Dropping a New Album Tonight 7/24

On this morning of July 23rd, Taylor Swift announced that she will be dropping her 8th studio album. The album will drop TONIGHT Friday July 24th at midnight EST.

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The New Album

Swift is known for not being very active on social media, so seeing her post meant something was happening. She announced her new album which will be called Folklore. This album comes less than a year after her album Lover which premiered August 23rd, 2019. We are getting have 16 new songs plus one bonus song on the deluxe edition. Available for 1 week only she will have 8 deluxe CDs and 8 deluxe vinyls of Folklore on her website. What is really cool about these physical copies is that each deluxe edition will look completely different.

The songs of Folklore

Not only did she drop the news of her album tonight, she also dropped the song titles. The names of these tracks are as follows:

"The 1"
"Cardigan"
"The Last Great American Dynasty"
"Exile" (featuring Bon Iver)
"My Tears Ricochet"
"Mirrorball"
"Seven"
"August"
"This is Me Trying"
"Illicit Affairs"
"Invisible String"
"Mad Woman"
"Ephiphany"
"Betty"
"Peace"
"Hoax"
Bous Track: "The Lakes"

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Music Video

In addition to a new album she is releasing a music video for her new song "Cardigan." This music video Swift says was shot with the pandemic in mind. Swift used her own skills in hair, makeup, wardrobe, as well as writing and direction. The music video will also drop July 24th at midnight EST.

How did this happen?

My first reaction was "How on earth did this happen?" Due to the pandemic and close proximity to her album Lover, I was confused. Swift revealed in her post that this album was not planned, but rather a product of quarantine. She says she "wrote and recorded this music in isolation." However, she did collaborate with Aaron Dessner, Bon Iver, William Bowery, and Jack Antonoff on this album. She credits these people as "musical heroes" to her.
In addition, Swift also credits Laura Sisk and Jon Low for engineering the album, Serban Ghenea & Jon Low for mixing it and Beth Garrabrant for the Folklore photos.

A New Era

With this new album comes a new era for Taylor Swift. It is unclear what this album will bring. I am getting vibes similar to her album Red, from the song names. The title however brings me back to her country roots. However, the black and white aesthetic is similar to Reputation. So what this album will bring is truly unpredictable. No matter what though, I am excited to see what is to come.