Album Review: Taylor Swift’s Quarantine Sister Album Evermore
Everyone under the age of 30 has spent basically their whole lives worshipping at the altar of Taylor Swift, (with the brief exception of the fake Swifties abandoning our queen in the pre-Reputation blip) but her newest sequence of albums has incited a well-deserved revival.
And for transparency’s sake, I should probably mention that I’m writing this review while wearing my very own Taylor Swift cardigan.
After lockdown restrictions pushed back Swift’s LoverFest concert plans for the summer of 2020, she released folklore, a surprise album that caught the eye of music publications and listeners alike. A perfect blend of pop and folk music, her lead single “cardigan” paved the way for a new era of fans. Her developed sound drew new fans in from across different genres and perfectly highlighted her lauded songwriting abilities.
After plenty of critical acclaim and a Disney+ documentary, Swift once again surprised us all with a sister album to folklore, evermore. After the success of her last album, Swift has said that she and her collaborators simply couldn’t stop writing.
Evermore’s lead single “willow” acts as a companion to “cardigan” while also functioning as a lead-in to the similar yet noticeably different vibes of the new album. The music video, which premiered as the album was released, features Swift following a golden thread to her lover through the same upright piano she crawled into in “cardigan”. The video tied in various lyrical elements from folklore as well as evermore, perhaps most noticeably the lyric from “invisible string” where Swift sings, “One single thread of gold tied me to you”.
The album’s collaborations are deserving of high praise, especially “no body, no crime”, a wonderfully vicious song about friendship and murder, suitably contributed to by Swift’s close friends, the HAIM sisters. Fans of the band will notice that they bring their own unique brand to the song that chronicles the murder of Este, named after Este Haim, and her no-good, cheating husband. “coney island” featuring The National’s Aaron Dessner, a collaborator Swift worked with on folklore, tells a haunting tale of love and loss, that is, simply put, a vibe.
My personal favorite song on the album is “ivy”. The song is absolutely gorgeous, with a lilting melody that sticks in your head for at least a week and a half each time you listen to it. The meaning of the song has been interpreted in many ways by Swift’s fan base, ranging from a story about a widow learning to love again to an ode to a hidden sapphic love affair. The lyrics are hauntingly beautiful, with Swift singing
“Oh, I can't stop you putting roots in my dreamland / My house of stone, your ivy grows / And now I'm covered in you”.
It’s one of those songs that makes you think about every person that’s touched your life and changed you in some way.
Aside from my obvious bias, every song on evermore tells it’s own story and encourages you to feel the emotions with Swift as she sings, like in “champagne problems”, where you’re able to feel what she feels, even if you haven’t rejected a proposal, for a reason you can’t quite place.
Other notable songs include “‘tis the damn season”, which encourages people visiting home for the holidays to text their ex, “tolerate it”, which puts you in the shoes of a partner who feels like they give more than they get, and the aforementioned “champagne problems”, which brings out the feeling that even when you feel like you’re too messed up for someone you love to be happy, you know they’ll find happiness somewhere else.
Perhaps the most impressive thing to note is that Swift recorded both of these albums alongside her workload while she re-records her old discography after losing her masters. Swift’s fight to take control of her own music has been a constant focus in the music industry, and her drive and desire for artistic ownership have shown the public a glimpse of what it’s like to be trapped in contracts and work in the industry. As if she wasn’t working herself hard enough, there’s been rumors from fans that she may release a third album to go with folklore and evermore, and if she does it will be exciting to see where she goes with her music.
On the whole, evermore isn’t as cohesive as its equally loveable sister folklore, but it brings a vintage charm to Swift’s new aesthetic that perhaps wasn’t as present before. The various literary references in the album, like the subtle nods to Daphne du Maurier’s novel Rebecca and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, conjures a sepia lens around the whole album, making it seem like a love letter that’s been lost in time.
