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northIn the beginning, all of Taylor Swift’s albums thus far have been carefully released through a cleverly crafted release strategy. However, the eighth album, ‘Folklore’, fell mid-lock in July with just 12 hours of warning, and barring a brief statement from Swift, fans had to decipher its meaning themselves. After a few months of letting him sleep, the pop star finally revealed some of the music’s secrets in a new Disney + documentary.
‘Folklore’ was a cozy, indie left turn for Swift, and folklore: the long pond sessions leans more towards this. While last year’s Netflix doc American lady As Taylor struggled with her place in the larger pop machine, as well as the Grammy snubs, her political awakening, and the tabloid intrusions into her private life, this new film is more interested in real music.
Filmed largely at Aaron Dessner’s Long Pond Studios in idyllic Hudson, New York (fans of his band The National will recognize the studio exterior from the cover of 2017’s ‘Sleep Well Beast’), the film sees Swift , Dessner and Jack Antonoff – the album three writers and producers: Play the entire disc for the first time, with stories and explanations for each track before it plays.
Rumor has it that her boyfriend Joe Alwyn is in fact the anonymous composer William Bowery, who wrote parts of ‘Exile’ and ‘Betty’. Swift also explains the prominent fan theory that ‘Cardigan’, ‘Betty’ and ‘August’ dive into the same high school narrative at different points in the timeline.
Elsewhere, a Bon Iver-masked Justin Vernon joins in (remotely) for an impressive duet on ‘Exile,’ with Swift telling the sweet story that she and Alwyn, both big Bon Iver fans, imagined Vernon singing. the song as soon as they started. writing it together, but they were too afraid to ask. Right away, Dessner, who plays with Vernon on the folk-rock side project Big Red Machine, inadvertently gave Swift her wish. It is a magic watch.
Then there’s the genuine exchange of views between Swift and Dessner on ‘Peace’, which features the chorus: “Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?“According to Swift, she asks Alwyn if the problems his celebrity level caused him are outweighed by their love for each other; Dessner’s reading was about the difficulties his wife faces as a result of her depression. This is where the movie format – explainer, then acting – works best, and the subsequent execution of ‘Paz’ hits right in the stomach.
In a movie that largely strays from controversy, the only tense moment concerns Swift’s fight with talent manager Scooter Braun, with whom she is currently embroiled in a music rights dispute. When performing the closing song ‘The Lakes’, he looks directly into the camera for the first and only time in the entire film as he sings: “I’ve come too far to see some names fall into squalor and tell me how much my words are worth.While he disagrees with the laid-back vibe of the film, it’s understandable why Swift would use this platform to make a point. As she begins re-recording her old material in an attempt to regain the autonomy over the music that made her a star, Braun continues to benefit.
For the most part, though, the new movie focuses on gifting fans a rare behind-the-scenes look. ‘Folklore’ will be remembered as the quintessential lock album, and for many, self-isolation with Swift is a perfect (albeit unexpected) early Christmas present.
Details
- Starring: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner
- Release date: November 25 (Disney +)
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