Review: Taylor Swift – folklore

No Logic review for today, and sorry for no rapid reviews in a while. Here is the review:

Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift drops her eighth studio album, coming off a well-received record last year titled Lover. I do not think Swift needs much of an introduction as an artist; however, for those who are unaware, Swift has joined the growing group of mainstream pop artists that are turning indie (a great example is Lana Del Rey). folklore is a 16-track, hour-long LP written and recorded during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cover art already is drastically different from her usual, more self-centered artwork as she is photographed as a small individual in a large forest. Swift begins the album off with a song with a well-executed simple, light-hearted piano chord progression, simultaneously showing off her experienced narrative songwriting and vocals.

- Cardigan – Swift finds herself feeling like an old, forgotten cardigan that finally receives the label of being someone’s favorite. The strings and piano complement each other perfectly to create the atmosphere of innocent passion in this song.

- The last great american dynasty – The song follows the divorce story of Rebekah. Her house named “the Saltbox House” was bought by Swift.

- Exile – This song starts with the intimate, deep vocals by Justin Vernon; his lyrics go back and forth with Swift’s as if they were ex-lovers seeing each other again. Vernon voices feelings of confusion about why Swift’s character moved on so fast while Swift sings about the signs she gave her lover that the relationship was problematic. Bon Iver’s instrumental here was really fitting with the aesthetic of the album and encapsulates the song’s story well.

- My tears ricochet – Swift describing her tears ricocheting is one of my favorite lines she has written; I love the creative writing about her ex-lover attending her funeral accompanied by a weirdly inspiring instrumental.

- Mirrorball – This track leaves behind the more dramatic elements of the grandiose production in the beginning songs. The acoustic guitar is more prominent on this track as Swift describes herself as a mirrorball that reflects the characters around her.

- Seven – There is some more rhythmic delivery on the chorus of this cut as Swift looks at her childhood in retrospect. Short and sweet with a nice violin solo for the outro.

- August – August is more reminiscent of Swift’s earlier tracks about ill-fated romances, returning to a very grand and orchestral accompaniment. There is a great instrumental bridge in the front-middle of this song. There is an immense and deeply satisfying crescendo that transitions into the outro of the piece.

- This is me trying – The soft organ is a little strange to introduce and back the song as Swift sings similarly compared to the rest of the album. She is trying to fix her relationship, acknowledging her regrets and problems like alcohol and fear of failure that contributed to the conflict. The album is starting to feel unnecessarily glorious in production at this point because she is not singing about anything fitting for it.

- Illicit affairs – Swift discusses infidelity on this song, talking about the good and bad aspects. A similar instrumental vibe with more focus on the acoustic guitar is present.

- Invisible string – I like how this track is heavily characterized by the Asian string instrument, a nice change from the tracklist. She is referencing a Japanese folk myth where two soulmates are tied by a red thread of fate.

- Mad woman – The placement of this track on the album is a bit confusing, but I do love it as a stand-alone song. This is an artistic concept cut where the mad woman is an outcast of her town that is getting revenge for being exiled. The concept of the delusional woman is tied to her personal life, for example, her conflict with Kanye West.

- Epiphany – Epiphany sounds quite choral as it starts; Swift describes herself living in a chaotic, violent world, which is very fitting for the current COVID-19 pandemic situation. She hopes to find peace in dreaming.

- Betty – The narrator is the boy James from the song August that Swift had a relationship with. It is revealed that James was still dating someone else at that time named Betty. However, she does not need James as she thrives as an individual and realizes her worth. The modulation is pleasant at the end of the song.

- Peace – Introduced by light-beeping noises and soft guitar lines, Peace sees Swift admitting her wrongs in a relationship and learning from them.

- Hoax – A relatable closing track, Hoax is a cut where Swift details a toxic relationship. She knows that there is no hope left, but she wants to keep the relationship so bad.

In short, this is a great introspective album by Swift as she uses her experiences as learning opportunities. Much of the tracks may be this way due to the pandemic having a major effect on Swift. folklore honestly feels quite bare instrumentally; the orchestral or grandiose tracks are not very layered, but it gives the intended effect. The album is quite seamless with some critiques on certain tracks for me, but I never felt like there was any filler, especially when looking at the lyrics. Pop artists generally sing about love a lot; however, Swift changes everything up with a concept album that includes many lessons learned from love. Her vocals are expectedly perfect, and her musical experience is finally molding well artistically. As a young teenage dude, I probably would never have imagined listening to or sympathizing with Taylor Swift, but here I am. folklore cements Swift into the Indie scene of music, but it is her decision to stay or not.

Favorite Track: my tears ricochet

Least Favorites: this is me trying & epiphany

Score: 8.4