If you thought it was awesome to have one surprise Taylor Swift album this year, how would you feel about two? Swift shocked the TaylorNation on Thursday morning (Dec. 10) when she revealed that a second no-notice collection, the 15-track Evermore, would drop at midnight.
“I’m elated to tell you that my 9th studio album, and folklore’s sister record, will be out tonight at midnight eastern. It’s called evermore,” she wrote along with a rustic photo of the back of her head, with her hair in a French braid. She explained that TBH, “we just couldn’t stop writing songs. To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in.”
Swift admitted that she’s never really done it this way before. Whereas she’s usually treated each album as a “one-off” era before moving on to planning the next project, there was just something different about the sessions for the Grammy-nominated Folklore. “In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning,” she explained in a series of follow-up notes.
“I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found into your lives. So I just kept writing them,” she said. Most of all, she loved working with her co-writer/producer Aaron Dessner of The National, as well as frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and her mysterious pal William Bowery on her eighth and now upcoming ninth album, as well as some “new (and longtime) friends.”
Swift revealed the 15-song track listing a short time later, which includes collaborations with Haim, Bon Iver and The National. “Ever since I was 13, I’ve been excited about turning 31 because it’s my lucky number backwards, which is why I wanted to surprise you with this now,” she explained in an Instagram post with a shot from the woodsy back cover. “You’ve all been so caring, supportive and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I thought I would give you something! I also know this holiday season will be a lonely one for most of us and if there are any of you out there who turn to music to cope with missing loved ones the way I do, this is for you.”
The standard edition of Evermore has 15 tracks, with a deluxe physical edition containing two bonus tracks – “right where you left me” and “it’s time to go.” All digital downloads will include an exclusive, digital booklet with 16 new photos. In another post, Swift said the video for first single “Willow” will drop at midnight Eastern as well. Alongside a gauzy shot of what appears to be a still from the visual, she also thanked the team that helped her direct her own videos — including the medical inspector who made sure they were COVID-19 safe — and promised to answer some questions on the YouTube premiere page for the clip before midnight.
Evermore track list:
“Willow”
“Champagne Problems”
“Gold Rush”
“‘Tis the Damn Season”
“Tolerate It”
“No Body, No Crime” (feat. Haim)
“Happiness”
“Dorothea”
“Coney Island” (feat. The National)
“Ivy”
“Cowboy Like Me”
“Long Story Short”
“Marjorie”
“Closure”
“Evermore” (feat. Bon Iver)
Check out the tweets below.