For “evermore”: an album review
By: Kelsi Maddock
Tags: Album Review, Musi, Evermore, Taylor Swift

The cover for Taylor Swift’s ninth studio album, “evermore”

After folklore flourished through the fall, Taylor Swift welcomed winter with the peaceful piano of her ninth studio album, evermore, released on Dec. 11 through Republic Records.

Swift announced the new album on social media, less than 24 hours before it was available for download or streaming. evermore concludes a laundry list of accomplishments by Swift in 2020, who debuted two documentaries in addition to the sister albums.

folklore, loved for its eloquent lyrics and unexpected indie vibes, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and became the best selling album of the year. In comparison, evermore appears lackluster. Although the album is anticipated to be a success and compliments its predecessor, evermore is void of energetic songs after lead single and opening track “willow,” whereas folklore laced “the last great american dynasty,” “mirrorball,” and “betty” between the tender tracklist.

However, evermore evokes feelings of nostalgia; the music reminisces on Swift’s earlier catalogue, which she is currently rerecording.

In the first of three songs to have a feature, “no body, no crime,” Swift and Los Angeles-based pop rock band HAIM channel the bitterness of “Better Than Revenge” from 2010’s Speak Now and the nonchalance of “I Did Something Bad” from 2017’s reputation to punish infidelity with homicide in a haunting narrative that echoes the country roots of Swift’s self-titled debut.

“coney island,” the second song to have a feature, alludes to lyrics in Swift’s past discography. The question asked in the first verse, “Did I close my fist around something delicate,” bluntly connects with penultimate single from reputation, “Delicate.” Matt Berninger, frontman of collaborating band The National, asks in the bridge, “Were you standing in the hallway with a big cake, happy birthday?” bringing listeners back to bonus track “The Moment I Knew” off 2012’s Red before the following lyric, “Did I paint your bluest skies the darkest gray?” reminds them of Speak Now’s “Dear John.”

But the real star of evermore is lucky number track 13, “marjorie,” a sweet tribute honoring late opera singer and Swift’s maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay. Swift is no stranger to writing songs for family — “The Best Day” from Fearless and “Soon You’ll Get Better” from Lover are both dedicated to mom Andrea — but “marjorie” stands out among them. With lessons taught in the lyrics such as, “Never be so kind, you forget to be clever / Never be so clever, you forget to be kind,” and “Never be so polite, you forget your power / Never wield such power, you forget to be polite,” Swift unites everybody who ever lost someone who inspired their life in a year surrounded by loss, but provides a promising reminder that, “What died didn’t say dead / You’re alive, you’re alive in my head.” Marjorie is alive in the song as well, as her soprano vocals angelically back the song.

evermore ends a hopeless year with a false sense of “happiness” and heaps of heartbreak, but if the listener is left with chills, there is a cardigan to help with that.