Folklore (Deluxe)

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Folklore (Deluxe), often stylized in all lowercase, is the eight studio album by Taylor Swift. It was released on July 24, 2020, through Republic Records, as a surprise album. The album consists of 17 standard edition tracks and 7 deluxe tracks.

## folklore (deluxe)

* Standard Edition
* Deluxe Edition

## Studio Album

### Genre

Indie folk • Alternative folk • Electro-folk • Chamber-pop • Indietronica

### Producer(s)

Aaron Dessner • Jack Antonoff • Taylor Swift • Joe Alwyn

## Singles

1. cardigan
Released: July 27th 2020
2. exile (ft. Bon Iver)
Released: August 3rd 2020
3. betty
Released: August 17th 2020
4. the 1
Released: October 9th 2020
5. the lakes
Released: July 24th 2021

## Background

In April 2020, Taylor Swift was set to embark on Lover Fest, her sixth concert tour in support of her seventh studio album *Lover* (2019), which was cancelled following the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 23, 2020, nine photos were uploaded to Swift's Instagram account, all without captions, forming an image of the singer standing alone in a forest. Subsequently, she made another post across all her social media accounts, announcing that her eighth studio album would be released at midnight; Swift stated: "Most of the things I had planned this summer didn't end up happening, but there is something I hadn't planned on that DID happen. And that thing is my 8th studio album, *Folklore*". She confirmed the image as the album's cover artwork and revealed the track-list. *The Wall Street Journal* opined that the surprise announcement "caught fans and the music business off-guard". *Billboard* stated that it "blindsided the pop music world", arriving as exciting news during lockdown. *Folklore* was released eleven months after *Lover*—the fastest turnaround for a Swift studio album at the time, beating the one year and nine months gap between *Reputation* (2017) and *Lover*. In another post, Swift announced that the music video for the track "Cardigan" would release at the same time as the album.

During the YouTube premiere countdown to the "Cardigan" music video, Swift hinted that the album lyrics contained many of her signature Easter eggs: "One thing I did purposely on this album was put the Easter eggs in the lyrics, more than just the videos. I created character arcs and recurring themes that map out who is singing about who... For example, there's a collection of three songs I refer to as the Teenage Love Triangle. These three songs explore a love triangle from all three people's perspectives at different times in their lives". She referred to the album as "wistful and full of escapism. Sad, beautiful, tragic. Like a photo album full of imagery, and all the stories behind that imagery", described "Cardigan" as a song that explores "lost romance and why young love is often fixed so permanently in our memories," and pointed-out the self-written track, "My Tears Ricochet", as the first song she wrote for the album. Uproxx narrated, "on Thursday night, that hand-drawn 'T' and 'S' could be seen up and down the timeline. Music fans and critics across genres unveiled hot takes, quoted lyrics like Myspace teens writing on the back of textbooks or crafting the perfect AIM away message, and debated *Folklore*'s place in the unimpeachable Taylor Swift canon."

### Recording

Swift's songwriting drifted towards escapism and romanticism for *Folklore*. She enlisted two producers to achieve her desired sound—her longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, who worked with her on *1989* (2014), *Reputation*, and *Lover*, and first-time collaborator Aaron Dessner, guitarist of American indie rock band the National. Due to COVID-19 concerns, Swift, Antonoff and Dessner quarantined remotely, separate from each other, creating *Folklore* by continually exchanging digital files of instrumentals and vocals. The album ensued from a DIY process, mixed and engineered by personnel scattered across the US.

### Cover art

On July 23, 2020, nine photos were uploaded to Swift's Instagram account, all without captions, forming an image of the singer standing alone in a forest. Subsequently, she made another post across all her social media accounts, announcing that her eighth studio album would be released at midnight; Swift stated: "Most of the things I had planned this summer didn't end up happening, but there is something I hadn't planned on that DID happen. And that thing is my 8th studio album, *Folklore*". She confirmed the image as the album's cover artwork and revealed the track-list.

## Gallery

Official Tracklist (Closing Track Not Included)Folklore Standard Edition CoverFolklore Deluxe Edition Cover
### Photoshoot

in the weedsTarget exclusive/meet me behind the mallbetty's gardenstolen lullabieshide-and-seekrunning like waterclandestine meetings
## References

1. ↑ Credits to Wikipedia.
2. ↑ Credits to Wikipedia.
3. ↑ Credits to Wikipedia.