The album “Folklore” by Taylor Swift came out in 2020. It is Taylor’s eighth studio album and it was a surprise release. “Folklore” is often considered by fans to be Swift’s best album. Despite the title, “Folklore” is not entirely a folk album. It is mainly alternative and indie with a little bit of folk music sprinkled in. It could be argued that the album is pop-folk or electro-folk but it is most likely just indie-pop. The indie-pop genre matches better with the rest of Swift’s discography.
The album is very coherent and the music flows well together. The album does not have a big pop feel to it as other Swift albums do. However, the album is still very well put together and feels like a Swift album. The lyrics make the album feel cohesive with other Swift albums. The album does not feel like it is too long or too short and it does not feel like it is empty or missing a lot of things. “Folklore” has a lot of tracks that Swift is very well known for. The track “Mirrorball” is one of Swift’s most popular songs in her discography.
“Folklore” flows very well with Taylor’s other albums such as “Evermore.” The album helped grow Swift’s discography and in a very good way. The album marks a bold shift in Swift’s artistic evolution. The album is very timeless, intimate and deeply human. What makes “Folklore” special is her emotional honesty. She writes about maturity and vulnerability in her music in this album.
After her album, “Lover” in 2019, Swift traded her glossy pop albums for gentle acoustic melodies with haunting lyricism. Each song in “Folklore” feels like it is deeply intimate and Swift is speaking personally to the listener. The songs on this album feel like a confession written in a candlelit cabin. The lyrics are personal, poetic and deeply relatable. Tracks like “This is Me Trying” and “Cardigan” are deeply relatable and personal.
Swift also has amazing storytelling within this album. Within her songs she creates the story of a love triangle. The album “Folklore” strays away from Swift’s pop eras like “1989,” “Reputation” and “Lover,” but it is a defining point of her career. “Folklore” is a reflection of Swift’s lyricism and storytelling. She proves herself to be very talented with writing lyrics and stories in this album. In the album, Swift uses songs to tell the story of a teenage love triangle. In songs like “August” and “Betty,” she showcases her storywriting capabilities.
“Folklore” is a great addition to Swift’s discography and it adds variation. The album shows how Swift can be intimate with the listener and create something different from her usual pop albums. “Folklore” showcases Swift’s lyricism, storytelling, and vulnerability. The album definitely deserves the hype it receives from fans and it gets an eight out of ten.