Taylor Swift — evermore

Earlier this year, I wrote about Taylor Swift’s first album from 2020, folklore. Earlier this week, Taylor Swift released her second album of the year, evermore. In many ways it continues the indie-themed acoustic guitar rock of folklore. But in some ways, it’s different. 

For example, one of the album’s standout tracks, champagne problems, would’ve easily fit in with the rest of folklore, but the HAIM collaboration, another standout track, no body, no crime probably wouldn’t have. Yes it’s tinged with folk and country like much of folklore and evermore. But it has a bite that’s exemplified by its robotik drumming and its creepy true-crime subject matter: an evolution on the themes of storytelling in folklore. 

In fact, Taylor Swift’s lyrical evolution is evermore’s biggest theme, in many ways a straight-line extrapolation from folklore. Her evolution from sentimental confessionalist to a teller of stories about other people with a certain emotional distance is highly unusual for her pre-2020 discography. This was present in folklore: particularly in the teenage love triangle triumvirate: cardigan, august, and betty. But an out-an-out true-crime story about a gruesome murder committed by an adulterous partner and covered up by his mistress? That’s new lyrical territory, and an exciting storytelling choice for someone whose reputation as a lyricist is mostly as a writer of mawkish breakup songs.

At over an hour long, the album meanders a little, and the second half starts to feel a little flabby; like pressure-free exploration by a songwriter who’s just enjoying making music without thinking about what this means for the audience or the direction her musical career will take. After all, every Taylor Swift album has been a marked musical evolution; this one is quite similar to the previous outing: with the National’s Aaron Dressner donning production duties again, with collaborations with the likes of Bon Iver returning. 

So the obvious question is: is this better than folklore? I think it is. I think the indie-inspired sound with a focus on other-centric storytelling is more evolved in this album than the previous one. And despite its slightly-too-long runtime, I think it holds up better than folklore as a monolith. I do think it’s worth a listen.