Taylor Swift has announced the surprise release of her eighth album, Folklore. The Grammy-winning songwriter produced and co-wrote much of the album alongside Aaron Dessner of The National. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon also appears on the album, alongside Taylor Swift’s regular collaborator Jack Antonoff. It will premiere at midnight EST on July 23.
Writing on Instagram, Swift said, “Most of the things I had planned this summer did not end up happening, but there is something I had not planned for to happen.” She wrote and recorded the music in isolation, collaborating with “some musical heroes” remotely.
Swift wrote: “Before this year, I probably would have thought too much about when to release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, but the times we live in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed. My instinct tells me that if you do something you love, you should bring it out into the world. That is the side of uncertainty that I can deal with. “
Folklore follows Swift’s 2019 album, Lover. It was to appear in the Glastonbury 2020 headline before it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It is not the only surprise album to be released this week. Swift’s longtime rival Kanye West said she will release her new album, Donda: With Child, on Friday.
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