Even though Taylor Swift already graced us once this year with her Grammy nominated surprise album, folklore, she has surprised us once again with another album, evermore which was released on Dec. 11. This album is advertised as a sister album to folklore and will be her ninth album.
The lead single off of the album and the first track was willow. Compared to her previous single, cardigan, this is significantly more light hearted with both the vocals and the instrumentals. The song is a soft, slow love song that is likely about Swift’s relationship with her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn.
Track two of the album, champagne problems, is a gorgeous piano ballad that was co-written by the mysterious William Bowery, a writer featured on her previous album that led to several theories. In Swift’s concert film on Disney+ it was confirmed that Bowery was Swift’s boyfriend, Alwyn. The song is about a proposal gone wrong and perfectly captures the emotion of not being ready to pursue a forever relationship.
Swift always picks a particularly emotional song for her track five, and tolerate it is no exception. The song discusses an unrequited love over a beautiful piano instrumental. The song captures Swift’s ability to tell a story through music that may not necessarily be hers.
Ivy is the tenth track on the album and weaves a story that only Swift is capable of telling. It tells the story from the perspective of a married woman falling in love with someone who is not her husband which leads to an affair. This is not the first song Swift has written like this, both illicit affairs and august off of her previous album discussed infidelity.
On this album, Swift added more collaborations like no body, no crime which features the trio, Haim. This song picks up the pace on the album and is overall a lot of fun. The song is her version of a murder ballad, like The Chicks have done with Goodbye Earl and what Carrie Underwood did with Two Black Cadillacs and Blown Away. The song brings an amazing country influence reminiscent of her earlier albums.
Marjorie, an emotional ballad, is named for Swift’s maternal grandmother who passed away in 2003. Like her song epiphany, from folklore, the song will resonate with anyone who has lost someone they care about. The instrumentals include both piano and guitar that are stunning and invoke nostalgia. The lyrics and vocals are beautiful and invoke so much emotion that you would have to be heartless to not even tear up a little.
The closing track of the album and the title track, evermore, is a duet with Bon Iver, who Swift collaborated with in July with the breakup song, exile. This song in a way seems to connect to the pain of exile and describes how they are moving on from that pain. Unlike folklore, this album ends with a glimmer of hope as pain will not last forever.
As a sister album, evermore is definitely the winter companion to folklore’s feeling of autumn. Just like folklore, this album truly showcases Swift’s range and songwriting talents. This 15 track album is a masterpiece and only makes me more excited for Swift’s upcoming projects and re-recordings of old songs.
