Christmas came early this year for all Swifties, as Taylor Swift released “evermore,”the “sister record” to “folklore.” Fans were shocked when Swift announced just the night before that her ninth album would be released Dec. 11, less than five months after “folklore.” Not only did Swift produce two albums this year, but she also released a documentary about the making of “folklore.” Swift collaborated on a second album with producer and musician Aaron Dessner, who appears on the documentary. 

Much like its sister album, “evermore” is an indie album with softer music, mostly relying on piano and string instruments. Although they have similar sounds, everything about this album is different for Swift.

“I’ve never done this before. In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one after an album was released,” Swift said on Instagram, announcing “evermore.”

Swift has mastered many genres, such as country, pop, country-pop, you name it. She is constantly trying new things and experimenting. With “folklore,” however, Swift was so inspired, she just had to dive back in and create even more stories, ones that she could not abandon. This means one thing: “evermore” has got to be good.

And it is. “Evermore” consists of fifteen songs, each one with its own story that has been carefully crafted to keep listeners intrigued and invested, all while making them easy to listen to with calming instrumentals. 

Her most popular song from “evermore” is “willow,” which already has a music video to accompany it. Swift also released a “moonlit witch version” of this song which provides more of an upbeat and pop tone. In Swift-fashion the singer-songwriter also released the heartbreaking song “champagne problems” co-written with Joe Alwyn. This is definitely one of Swift’s sadder songs, telling a heart-wrenching love story of a rejected proposal and the pain that comes along with it. The lyrics may be hard to listen to, but the calming and dismal piano accompanying this tale keeps listeners engrossed. Although many fans suspected this song was about Swift and Alwyn’s relationship, this rumour was quickly debunked by Swift. The couple has co-written two other songs on the album: “coney island” and “evermore.” 

Swift collaborated with other artists on “evermore.” Bon Iver makes another appearance on the song “evermore,” after he was featured on “exile” from the last album. The song ”coney island” features The National, and “no body, no crime” features pop rock band, HAIM. 

This album is full of new experimentations from Swift, all while transcending listeners into another world of woods and wonder. The excitement isn’t over yet though, as bonus tracks are on their way. Fans can expect “right where you left me” and “it’s time to go” to drop soon.