Album Review: Taylor Swift - evermore

Announced a mere day before its release as with her earlier album, folklore, through her posting and tweeting about the album cover, Taylor Swift’s ninth studio album and “folklore’s sister record” evermore was released at midnight on the 11th of December 2020. And if releasing another selection of hits merely months after folklore is not exciting enough, Taylor also mentioned her continued melody of indie folk. In 2020, her usual upbeat, pop melodies took a bit of a break, with Taylor taking the alternative rock and indie folk route through both folklore and evermore. Writing and recording many of her songs in mere hours, this sister project has hitched a wave of success ever since its release.

When I began writing this review, I realized that seeing things from another perspective would be very interesting in discussing this album and its significance in this pandemic. For this collaboration, I could only think of one person: Ankita Saxena, a fellow sophomore and good friend of mine.

While chatting with Ankita, she told me that out of all of the tracks in evermore, she thought that “‘marjorie’ [was] indubitably the best.” Ankita revealed that she loved the song so much because it was also rooted into her own personal life, like it did Taylor: “I love it just because of how personal it is. I lost my grandmother to COVID-19 in April,” and “the lyric video made me sob when I first saw it at 2 A.M. on release day."

Ankita recounted how touching it was that it made her reminisce about her relationship with her grandmother and said it “hit too close to home given I was only able to spend such little time with her.” Ankita revealed her favorite part of “marjorie,” and said she loved was how it was extremely personal and meaningful:

“And I complained the whole way there...

I should've asked you questions

I should've asked you how to be

Asked you to write it down for me...

'Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me"

However “Marjorie” was just one of the many songs that charted successfully and created quite the effect on listeners. For example, Taylor’s various collaborations, especially with HAIM in “no body, no crime,” created a platform for her to pursue storytelling. Through the alternative indie song, Taylor takes a villainous ride, where she relays a tale she penned during quarantine abundant with revenge and love between a woman named Este, (whom she meets "Tuesday night at Olive Garden”), her husband, and her close friend.

Musically, Taylor’s evermore is a magical journey with ample emotion, deep-rooted meaning, and a whole range of experiences one can encounter all while maintaining a consistent yet branching-out sound. Breaking many records and debuting at No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100, the lead single “willow” shone in the light of sweet success.

Equally mesmerizing, the title track, “evermore,” featuring Bon Iver, is another particularly thrilling piece, with a fascinating story woven in with a well-known somber tone that caps off with longing hope. With her various indie rock collaborations, “coney island” with The National is just one more vivid song of evermore: the relatable sad longing of a now-broken relationship is delivered through a melancholy performance with a simplistic, repetitive, and bouncy instrumental in the background.

Other tracks include “gold rush,” which opens with a mellow, and a slow chant that transitions into a much poppier, faster-paced song, showing off her iconic energy once more. This is followed by the undeniably provocative “champagne problems'' which shows a female protagonist’s struggles regarding mental health. Then the ambivalence in “tolerate it” is profusely profound—coping with the hard feeling of loving someone intensely but receiving no emotion in return. The chorus in this song about imbalance is especially touching, as it showcases Taylor’s innocence and playfulness even during extremely trying relationships. And therefore, with so many other songs with diverse meanings, fans are purely delighted to see Taylor creating yet another masterpiece in evermore. Each of her songs have a distinctive touch of their own that, no doubt, hold a special place in the hearts of many of her fans, like myself and Ankita.

“I'm clearly a big fan of Taylor both as a person and as a songwriter . . . It's so amazing to have seen her music evolve from country to pop to alternative,” Ankita concluded. But Taylor's change of focus and bombshell releases are only a few of the many surprises she has for her fans: who knows what more she has coming in 2021?

And so, with that, Ankita left off with a positive note that I feel reflects the feelings of many: “‘I cannot wait for what's next.’”

Fancy listening to the album again? Check out the songs of evermore below:

• • “evermore”

  • “long story short”

  • “gold rush”

  • “champagne problems”

  • “willow”

  • “‘tis the damn season”

  • “tolerate it”

  • “happiness”

  • “dorothea”

  • “coney island”

  • “ivy”

  • “cowboy like me”

  • “closure”

  • “no body, no crime”

  • “marjorie”

  • “right where you left me” (bonus track)

  • “it’s time to go” (bonus track)