#Taylor Swift’s radical ‘Folklore,’ recorded in quarantine, is ‘some new s–t’

Enlarge Image

The cover art of Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” album.
Republic Records

After their infamous entanglement at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift has pulled a Beyoncé by releasing a surprise album.

But “Folklore” — which the superstar teased on Thursday before dropping at midnight — is not the summer album to escape from your quarantine doldrums. There are no splashy summer smashes — such as 2012’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” 2014’s “Shake It Off” or even last year’s “You Need To Calm Down” — waiting to happen here.

Written during Swift’s quarantine, her eighth studio album arrives less than a year after “Lover,” an LP that had returned the singer-songwriter to peppier pop following the darker “Reputation.” Well, this is another reset — and an even more radical one.

The desolate, black-and-white album cover — featuring a tiny Swift looking lost in the woods — captures the sense of isolation that she must have been feeling when she wrote this record. Of course, that’s a feeling we can all relate to in 2020 — and Swift nails it here.

It’s startling to hear the 10-time Grammy winner sound so downbeat.

“I’m doing good, I’m on some new s - - t,” she sings, as if catching up with her fans at the beginning of album opener “the 1,” which sets the quiet tone for “Folklore.”

No doubt, this is a new Taylor, who sounds as if she has gone within hard during lockdown, but clearly it freed her creativity. And you feel like you’re right there with her at her piano, as the low-key mood and lo-fi-ish production — not to mention, all the song titles are in lowercase — make this her most intimate album ever.

“Folklore” finds Swift digging deeper into the alt-folk of “Lover’s” standout title track. On “exile,” she even teams up with Bon Iver — who, interestingly, has also collaborated with Swift rival Kanye West in the past — and the result is an aching breakup song that mirrors how many of us probably felt: like we broke up with the outside world this year. When she sings, “Now I’m in exile seein’ you out,” the loneliness is real.

That haunting feeling — ghostly background vocals and all — lingers on “my tears ricochet,” which features the classic Taylor lyric, “And if I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake?” The beautiful imagery in that song title alone is an instant indicator of Swift’s powers as a songwriter.

Same goes for “invisible string,” which, with its lilting pluckiness, is one of the happier moments here. But even when she’s more upbeat on songs such as this and “mirrorball,” it’s a muted kind of joy.

But mostly, “Folklore” — whose biggest flaw is perhaps lacking a killer single — is all about wistful reflection, with Swift in a particularly nostalgic mood on songs such as “seven” and “this is me trying.” Musing about a heartbreak she can’t shake on the latter, she sings, “You’re a flashback in a film reel.”

And when Swift gets “lost in the memory” on “august,” you may find yourself longing for the way that summer used to be.