Hannah Hall

Arts and Entertainment Editor

Taylor Swift has been a dominating force in the music industry since her debut self-titled album nearly fourteen years ago, so it should be no surprise to anyone that the pop star used her time in quarantine to create and release two new albums. The most recent of the two albums, Evermore, has become a solid rotation to the playlists of many Swifties and non-Swifties alike since its release just a few short months ago.

Swift entered the country music scene in 2006 after the original release of her self-titled album at only nineteen years old. She quickly rose to popularity and expanded into the pop, rock, and folk genres. Releasing nine studio albums and many chart-topping singles throughout her career, Swift is truly a force to be reckoned with.

Besides being a musical pioneer for over a decade, Swift is also well known for her storytelling abilities and the different “eras” that each of her nine studio albums throughout the years has taken on. 

From the fantasy era of “Speak Now” to her debut pop era of 1989 to the all-black, “bad girl” era of Reputation, all of her albums take on a different aesthetic and reflect a new side of her personality and music. It is no surprise that her new releases have done the same, taking on a sort of dark-cottagecore-fantasy aesthetic and reflecting Swift’s mesmerizing storytelling abilities.

Evermore, Swift’s ninth studio album was released December 11th, 2020 on her label Republic Records. This album is the sister album to her eighth studio album Folklore, which was released only five months prior on July 24, 2020. 

The album is a result of the large number of songs Swift wrote during quarantine with Aaron Dessner and was a surprise release, being released only hours after being announced on Swift’s Instagram just like its counterpart. 

Despite the short notice of the announcement, the album still stirred a huge amount of buzz and had Swifties on every social media platform counting down the hours until it was released.

The fifteen-track album, seventeen tracks for the deluxe edition, plunges the listener into nearly two hours of Swift’s brilliant writing. From heartbreak to murder, the tracks each tell immersive stories and leave the listener tangled in a complicated web of emotions. It is truly a work of art.

From the murder-mystery novel-esque “No Body, No Crime” to the nostalgically haunting “Tis The Damn Season”, nearly every song on this album is noteworthy for a different reason. Swift and Dessner truly have gone out of their way with this piece of work. The collaborative efforts on lyrics, musicality, and even the smallest details make this album a beautiful collection. 

Evermore is arguably one of the best works of Swift’s career so far. It has a mature sound we haven’t heard from the artist before as well as beautiful lyrics and enrapturing stories in each track. She didn’t stop world-building with just the songs. Swift considered every detail when it came to this album and created everything from the album art to the music videos to Spotify playlists with different storylines to enhance the Evermore experience. As a newly reformed Swiftie, this new era of Taylor has me excited for the future of her career. 
In short, Evermore is an amazing album. From lyrics to arrangement to storytelling, the album fully captures the dark, woodsy yet magical atmosphere Swift intended when she released these songs. If you haven’t listened yet, you should do yourself a favor by opening your choice music app and immersing yourself in the world of Evermore.

Categories: Arts & Entertainment, featured

Tags: Arts & Entertainment, evermore, music, Taylor Swift