Artist: Taylor Swift
Release Date: 11th December 2020
Record Label: Republic
"I wouldn’t say Evermore was her best album produced, nor would I say that both Evermore and Folklore are her best pieces of work to date, because they simply aren’t."
As if one surprise Taylor Swift album wasn’t enough for 2020, she brings out another! A sister album. Having released the intimate Folklore back in July, she has blessed us with another album in the December, called Evermore. The same people who were involved with the Folklore album have also worked on this project too, such as American indie acts, The National and Bon Iver - which is what makes this album the sister album - very alike with the same roots but one appears to be more mature than the other - that latter being Folklore.
When it comes to campaigning the album; instead of some big publicity stunt, or a her usual meticulously planned album launch, she instead dropped both albums unexpectedly - with no warning and with less than 24 hours notice. However, with fans like Swifties, the album was sure to be a sell out even without the publicity campaign.
Evermore is an ocean of metaphors, built up on the experience of the past seven albums, including influences from her past self. Metaphorically laced ‘Ivy’ depicts somebody’s shame at falling in love with another despite being married, inciting powerful metaphors: “I can’t stop you putting roots in my dreamland, my house of stone, your ivy grows and now I’m covered in you”. I wouldn’t go as far to say Swift has pushed the boundaries for indie reinvention but I’d definitely say she’s pushed the boundaries for herself. Evermore is an inspired concoction of influences from her previous pieces of work, for example you hear bits of 1989 and RED influences in songs like ‘Tolerate it (E)’, ‘Gold Rush’ and ‘Long Story Short’ which harbour that folklorian sound with a hint of the ‘80s-inspired synth-pop that endured through her 2014, ‘1989’ album.
Opening track love song,‘Willow’ is one of the catchy standouts off the album, with it’s ringing chorus - “ I’m begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans, that’s my man”. Another catchy favourite would have to be 'Long Story Short' too. Amongst the album standouts is also, ’No Body, No Crime’ ft HAIM. It’s a third person country murder mystery revenge story about a woman who finds out her husband is having an affair, and she meets her friend and tells them she thinks he’s been unfaithful due to cheques and receipts she’s picked up on clues. She can’t prove he’s had an affair so (presumably) she kills him and the police later think she killed him but can’t prove it. “I think he did it but I just can’t prove it”/ “they think she did it but they just can’t prove it.” An emphasis on the repetition later on down in the track to reiterate the meaning behind the story being told throughout the song.
However the whole album isn’t fictional, there are some true personal moments, too – see ‘Marjorie’, a song about Swift’s opera singing grandmother Marjorie Finlay, and the wisdom she handed down to her. “Never be so kind you forget to be clever. Never be so clever you forget to be kind.” Lyrically this is one of my favourite songs off this album, purely because of how close to home it hits. The meaning and sentiment behind it is just so precious, “Never be so polite you forget your power, never wield such power you forget to be polite.” Some real life lessons there taught by Aunt Marj - RIP.
‘Coney Island’ ft The National I found to be a complimentary duet, however the duet with Bon Iver on closing title track ‘Evermore’ I think isn’t as flattering. I find the stark contrast between Bon Iver and Taylor Swift’s voice doesn’t compliment one another as well in this track as I’d have hoped - especially considering how much I rate their duet of ‘Exile’ off the Folklore album. 'Evermore' is a comforting track about the uncertainties that presented themselves in the midst of Covid, “Grey November, I’ve been down since July” but the song ends on a high note assuring that the pain won’t last forever, “And I couldn’t be sure, I had a feeling so peculiar that this pain wouldn’t be for evermore.” Ending on an uplifting note as we see positivity and a light ahead amidst the covid control and a possibility we will get out of this mess.
I wouldn’t say Evermore was her best album produced, nor would I say that both Evermore and Folklore are her best pieces of work to date, because they simply aren’t. Both of these albums seemed rather experimental to me, as they’re obviously quite different to both her older and more recent work. Lyrically, the songs execute wonderful narratives and the songwriting on both of the albums is some of the best work Swift has done. The Evermore album is more about the songwriting than the songs themselves. Taylor has moved from country, to pop, and now she’s finding her country roots and combining them with indie-folk to create more focus on the lyrics than on the tune itself. A great example of this would be the HAIM feature - ‘No Body, No Crime'. However, this album definitly isn't BAD and I guess you can still call me ... a Swifty.
8/10