Music Review: Taylor Swift Surprises Fans with Ninth Studio Album, Evermore

On Thursday Dec. 11, Taylor Swift tweeted that she would be dropping her ninth studio album, Evermore, at midnight. This comes only mere months after Swift previously surprised fans with her critically acclaimed eighth studio album, Folklore, in July of this year. Swift set the bar high as she announced that the album would be the sister record to Folklore, which received critical acclaim across the boards.

Similar to Folklore, Swift again dips her feet into the waters of indie pop as she flawlessly pulls off nearly every musical genre. The album is arguably one of her best, both lyrically and production wise, as she teams up with Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, and Justin Vernon again. Swift’s ability to create two rich albums in such a short period of time, nevermind during a pandemic, is a testament to just how talented she truly is.

The album, consisting of 15 songs and set at an hour long, feels like stepping outside of your body and entering into the woodsy dreamlike world Taylor has created yet again. Swift herself even describes both Folklore and Evermore as a form of “escapism” in a tweet. 

In track two titled “Champagne Problems,” Swift sings about a proposal gone wrong as a woman turns down a marriage to her college sweetheart for seemingly no reason. In one of her strongest bridges to date Swift sings, “‘She would've made such a lovely bride / What a shame she's f---ed in the head,’ they said”. Similar to the lyrics of Folklore’s “Mad Woman”, Swift again speaks to the expectations women are expected to live up to and hints at mental illness.

In “Gold Rush”, a yearning masterpiece, and “Long Story Short” Swift steps back into her pop sound from album 1989, something we haven’t seen from her in a while. Meanwhile in “No Body, No Crime”, featuring HAIM, and “Cowboy Like Me”, Taylor returns to her country roots as she once again proves to the world that she is not confined to just one genre. 

In Taylor Swift fashion, she sings about heartbreak and relationships gone wrong in “Happiness” and “Tolerate It”, her famous track five. Swift sings about the struggles of unrequited love, claiming “I know my love should be celebrated / But you tolerate it”, as she would do anything for this person that does not feel the same about her.

Closing title track “Evermore”, featuring Bon Iver, is a piano ballad detailing an episode of profound depression and eventually finding hope. The album closes with the line “I had a feeling so peculiar / This pain wouldn't be for / Evermore”, leaving the audience with feelings of warmth and hope during these unprecedented times we’re living in. 

Once again, Taylor Swift takes the world by its feet and lives up to her title as the American Music Awards’ proclaimed “Artist of the Decade”. Evermore is available now on Spotify and Apple Music. So put your headphones in and sit back while Swift takes you on a journey outside of your own life and into the dreamscape world of Evermore for an hour.