Only five months ago, Taylor Swift surprised the world with her eighth studio album, folklore, and took us on a journey of hope and longing, loss and despair, reminiscence and romanticisation. That ornate storytelling has barely finished marinating and, already, sheâs back to break hearts and put them back together again in sixty minutes.
From the first acoustic note of opening track âwillowâ, weâre transported back to those familiar acres of forests and lakes. Where the sun was once felt blazing on our skin in folklore, the leaves have now fallen from the trees and the frost is glistening on the grass. Those mellifluous summer stories in the rear-view mirror, evermore feels like a sombre moment of reflection spent sitting in front of the fire as the winter gets colder.
Swiftâs newfound maturity shines brighter than it ever has before. Lulling piano chords ring through tracks such as âhappinessâ and âmarjorieâ, giving an airy silence to really luxuriate her heart-wrenching ability to simplify every feeling you could possibly imagine. Her storytelling has always been what sets her apart from anyone else, and Iâm so thrilled to hear Taylor continuing those mellow moments of honesty.
For an album put together in mere months, itâs obvious Swift has put a lot of thought into every nook and hideout den in evermore, and her collaborations are a perfect measure of this. The Nationalâs feature on âconey islandâ could undoubtedly be a part of the bandâs 2019 release âI Am Easy to Findâ with imagery and self-condemnation in lines like âwho coaxed you into paradise and left you there? / will you forgive my soul / when youâre too wise to trust me and too old to care?â. Itâs clear she is influenced by Matt Berningerâs lyricism in the way she encapsulated his style so uniquely. Even in ââtis the damn seasonâ, I almost expected to hear Berningerâs voice against Aaron Dessnerâs trademark electric guitar. Itâs an unexpected comparison, but Taylor Swift has proven time and time again that sheâs capable of an endless horizon of genres. I certainly wouldnât complain if her future albums echoed similar influences to The National.
Darkness doesnât last all winter, though; Swiftâs country roots are back with a vengeance in HAIM collaboration âno body, no crimeâ, and a subtle harmonica returns in my personal album highlight, the fairytale-esque âivyâ. Those blinding December sunsets in the late afternoon flourish in âgold rushâ as dreamy vocals wonder aloud âwhat must it be like to grow up that beautiful?â. Itâs a track that displays such growth from songs in her earlier career like âEnchantedâ where she narrates enjoying the exact feeling âgold rushâ claims to dislike. Here, sheâs older and wiser and will be calling anyone out on their âcontrarian shitâ.
In an hour-long album, itâs inevitable for some tracks to feel less impactful than their surrounding songs. The laidback âcowboy like meâ tiptoed on the line of being the shimmering, slow-dance song that âmirrorballâ was for folklore, but unfortunately the narrative loses its way in the towering trees.
It doesnât take long for Swift to find her bearings again, giving a delightful shrug of the shoulder to her hardships in âlong story shortâ. This isnât new ground to Taylor, having written the haunting âall of my enemies started out friendsâ about her career in âThe Archerâ, but she manages to portray old feelings like a breath of fresh air. She reflects further on these struggles now, writing a letter to her past self to say âyour nemeses will defeat themselves before you get the chance to swingâ and wrapping it up in a ribbon with âlong story short, I survived / now Iâm all about youâ.
Even in the disorientated moments of evermore, there are sprinklings of glitter across every song if the light catches them right. The final and title track certainly sparkles all over; itâs a perfect finishing touch to the adventure that Taylor has taken us on. Gentle violins creep through the beginning like footprints in the snow, soon building up to a flurry of Bon Iverâs classic vocoder. âevermoreâ is Bon Iver (aka Justin Vernonâs) second feature in Taylor Swiftâs discography, the first one appearing in âexileâ on folklore where we hear Vernonâs vocals deep and gravelly. I just adore how contrastingly she utilised this collaboration, proving her versatility but also Bon Iverâs. Though, my favourite thing about this song is the story it tells; Swift begins by sighing âI had a feeling so peculiar / that this pain would be forevermoreâ. Itâs gut-wrenchingly sad. As the spacious piano settles back in from Vernon and Swiftâs climactic harmonies, the line changes to âI had a feeling so peculiar / this pain wouldnât be forevermoreâ. Taylor sees out âevermoreâ in the setting of a cosy cabin in the woods, patching up the impact of every painful word sung.
Having listened to pretty much nothing else since its release, Iâm already on the cusp of awarding evermore the title of my favourite Taylor Swift album. More mature and intelligent than ever, I canât even begin to predict what her tenth release could bring. Either way, sheâs made it that bit trickier to choose an album of the year, thatâs for sure.