Taylor Swift’s Album “Folklore” — The Long Pond Studio Sessions
By: Jennifer Friebely
Tags: Folklore Album, Taylor Swift, Music, Love, Pop Culture

Taylor Swift’s Album “Folklore” — The Long Pond Studio Sessions

Disney made a documentary — and it delivered — big time

During the Covid-19 lockdown, the musicians recorded separately miles apart while the album was created at Long Pond Studio. Taylor and her collaborators were never able to play the album together… Until now. Long Pond Studio, Upstate New York. September 2020. — Disney

I have to confess. I am a 57-year-old fan-girl who loves Taylor Swift.

Her music resonates with my 23-year-old daughter and me, who have been living together since last March when the coronavirus lockdown took place.

Taylor Swift’s newest album Folklore, released on July 24, 2020, is a product of the Covid-19 crisis and Taylor’s thoughts and feelings during lockdown and quarantine. She wrote, produced, and recorded the entire album during the quarantine. It is sublime. The music is so different from her other albums, for the most part.

The team that created this extraordinary album could not be together to record it in person until September of 2020 at Long Pond Studios in Hudson Valley, New York. Disney filmed the recording sessions and created a fantastic documentary that provides a closer view.

Taylor Swift set up a recording studio in her home to create the album. She discusses minor technical issues like why they couldn’t close doors during recording sessions because her cats would meow — so her cats are part of the master recordings, walking in and out of the room. Everyone worked remotely to put Folklore together.

The documentary allows Taylor to go into detail about the arc of the album. Some of the songs tie together. Others are cool new ways of storytelling she is trying for the first time — a result of the creative freedom that a seemingly limiting lockdown and quarantine provided and the addition of co-producer Aaron Dessner, a founding member of The National & Big Red Machine. Along with stalwart co-producer and co-writer Jack Antonoff.

But first-time collaborator Aaron Dessner seems to bring arrangements that serve as foundations for lyrics that free Taylor to express herself vocally in ways she hasn’t previously been able to do, particularly on Mad Woman and The 1.

During the writing and throughout the production, Taylor’s thought process and discussions with her co-producers are fascinating — and adds even more depth to the musical stories within Folklore.

Yes, there are some songs about teenage angst. Love won, lost, and won again. But there are much more intense songs from a more mature songwriter’s heart. There are songs with a depth that comes from life’s experiences she hasn’t shown before. From sadness, betrayal, empathy, deep love, rejection, gratitude, perseverance — Swift draws an entire range of emotions into this album in a way that sweeps the listener away into a trance for the few minutes of musical delight that she masterfully created with her partners.

Taylor laments that two of the co-writers could not be at Long Pond Studios in person. Their unique collaboration leads me to another element that makes this album so exciting: the song on track four, Exile. More than one collaborator makes an appearance on this effort. First, her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, under the pen name “William Bowery.” He wrote the entire beginning of the duet with Taylor.

What’s more, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver is also a co-writer and performs via remote with Taylor. As I mentioned, Joe is not present when they film the album at Long Pond Studios. And neither is Justin, but he remotely sings his portion with the perfection that brings chills down your spine with a deep appreciation of the combined musical genius that created this song.

And those vocal expressions reach into the depths of our hearts and can make a listener cry, laugh, smile, reminisce — and feel like they’ve evolved in one piece.

Each song is so moving and, to me, a hit in and of itself. Yes, there are some songs I love more than others. But they are all fantastic.

One song that was particularly poignant to me in light of the pandemic was Mirrorball. At its core, it gives insight into the heart of a performer and those of us who, for whatever reason, can’t perform right now. But they are “mirrorballs” waiting to shine for someone again. Take the metaphor further — they are broken mirrors, radiating outward — reflecting tiny parts back to us as little fragments of our lives. Taylor talks about “how we have to be different versions of ourselves for different people.” If you listen carefully to this song’s lyrics, you will understand how the pandemic affected Taylor Swift. And we can all relate — even if we don’t perform for millions.

Lastly, track 5 — My Tears Ricochet. Track 5 often represents the deeper meaning of an album. Taylor calls it “one of the saddest songs on the album.” Jack Antonoff feels it’s one of “the saddest songs she’s written.” Taylor goes on to say, “the hero’s nemesis is the villain who used to be his best friend. The person who knows them best.” Taylor captured extreme betrayal in this song. As Jack Antonoff says as he interviews Taylor in their discussion of the music, “it’s very powerful.”

When I listen to this music, it releases my creativity. It helps me let go of whatever I’m holding that no longer serves me. It’s an album of moving forward and evolving. It will make you laugh and cry. It’s cleansing.

We are all doing a lot of inner work during this pandemic. Taylor Swift poignantly shines a light on so many of the feelings that have emerged.

Here’s the trailer to the documentary on Disney:

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If you like Taylor Swift as much as I do — and you like Folklore, you will also probably enjoy the Disney documentary. Happy watching!