Taylor Swift just sprung an almighty surprise on fans moments ago with the announcement of new album ‘Folklore.’
Even more shocking? The project arrives tonight!
Full story below…
Moments ago, Swift took to social media saying:
Surprise 🤗 Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my 8th studio album, folklore; an entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into.
Explaining the set, she said:
Peep the tracklist:
Swift, whose ‘Lover’ LP dropped less than a year ago in August 2019, is clearly going for big numbers again. For, she shared that there will be multiple configurations of the album available:
“Folklore will have 16 songs on the standard edition, but the physical deluxe editions will include a bonus track “the lakes.” Because this is my 8th studio album, I made 8 deluxe CDs & 8 deluxe vinyls available for 1 week😄 Each has unique covers & photos https://store.taylorswift.com“
Smart and on a few fronts too.
These various “versions” will help run up the numbers before Billboard’s new rules kick in come October.
More broadly, this is Swift’s embrace of the fluidity of the modern music market.
Take Ariana Grande, for example. 2018’s ‘Sweetener’ was pre-billed as being her big elevation project. And while it did deliver a few hits, it would be ‘Thank U, Next’ – released a mere six months later – that would bring the biggest commercial success of her career thus far.
Looking at this through Taylor’s lens, last year’s ‘Lover’ delivered her usual “better than everyone else” numbers, but didn’t hit the commercial, critical, nor hit-yielding highs of previous projects.
Often it’s the concert circuit that helps turn the narrative in the artist’s favor when it comes to the perceived success of an era. But like she said above, that’s not been possible due to the current global health crisis.
So this, should the music deliver, is arguably a masterstroke move. Especially as relates to generating fan and market excitement around her name.
UPDATE: Swift just announced the video for new single ‘Cardigan’ will also drop tonight with the album…