Taylor Swift Drops Another Surprise Album

willow

The album begins with it’s lead single, a perfectly poetic beginning to the story. Soft guitar strums accompany the sweet lyrics. The line “I come back stronger than a 90’s trend” captures the unexpectedness of the album. 

champagne problems

This song radiates class while enrapturing somberness with its heavy piano chords. The simple lyrics contradict the complexity of the story; it walks through engagement, marriage and touches on mental health. 

gold rush

Explained by Ms. Swift as the moment when thoughts wander into la la land during a daydream and then, suddenly, that moment ends. The light orchestra, guitar, and percussion created by Jack Antonoff, a producer who also worked on folklore, fit well into this narrative. 

no body, no crime (featuring Haim)

Inspired by Ms. Swift’s newfound love of true crime, she tells a fictional story about her friend Este Haim. After Este’s husband is suspected of killing Este, Ms. Swift decides to avenge her friend’s death by killing Este’s husband. The faint sound of sirens and the harmonica riffs give the song a Western feel. 

coney island (featuring The National)

Ms. Swift previously collaborated with Aaron Dessener on folklore, but he is now featured on a track. Their voices mix perfectly, as the song tells the story of reflecting on loss from a bench in Coney Island. The lyrics radiate the power of a forgotten romance, “we were like the mall before the internet, it was the one place to be.”

marjorie

The emotional side of this song stems from the connectedness between Ms. Swift and Marjorie, her deceased grandmother. The song works through grief, simple at first by singing in absolutes, but the complexity of the lyrics grows as the bridge of the song approaches. 

What stands out about this track is that Ms. Swift included her grandmother’s voice in the background. Under the words, “if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were singing to me now,” she included an old recording of her singing opera.