Taylor Swift released a ‘limited edition’ version of Folklore’s lead single Cardigan, which includes the ‘original voice memo’ she sent to producer Aaron Dessner prior to the song’s completion.
And on Monday, Swift’s eagle-eyed fans noticed that the 30-year-old singer sent the voice memo on ‘April 27, 2020,’ which happened to line up with a misleading post she shared to Instagram that same day.
‘Not a lot going on at the moment,’ captioned Swift at the time, while sharing a makeup-free, stoic selfie.
We see you Taylor: And on Monday, Taylor Swift’s eagle-eyed fans noticed that the 30-year-old singer sent the Cardigan voice memo to her collaborator Aaron Dessner on ‘April 27, 2020,’ which happened to line up with a misleading post she shared to Instagram that same day
The post’s caption had fans rolling their eyes on Monday, knowing now that Swift was hard at work on her eighth studio album Folklore, which dropped on Friday.
Written and recorded while in isolation due to COVID-19, Swift collaborated on 11 of the 16 new songs on the already hit album with multi instrumentalist Aaron Dessner of the indie rock band The National.
Aside from positive public opinion, Taylor’s label Republic Records let the numbers speak for themselves by revealing Folklore’s impressive first day sales.
In the first 24 hours, Folklore ‘exceeded 1.3 million copies sold globally’ and broke the record on Spotify for ‘global first day record streams by a female artist with 80.6 million streams,’ according to Just Jared.
Limited edition: Taylor Swift released a ‘limited edition’ version of Folklore’s lead single Cardigan, which includes the ‘original voice memo’ she sent to producer Aaron Dessner prior to the song’s completion
On the rival streaming platform Apple Music, Folklore amassed 35.47 million streams in one day, making it ‘the most streamed pop album on Apple Music in 24 hours.’
In terms of critical acclaim, Folklore surpassed Swift’s seven prior albums and is now considered her highest rated album on Metacritic with a score of 9.6.
Swift’s collaborator Dessner revealed in an interview with Pitchfork that ‘there was no outside influence at all’ when it came to creating Folklore.
Folklore: Surprise: The post’s caption had fans rolling their eyes on Monday, knowing now that Swift was hard at work on her eighth studio album Folklore, which dropped on Friday
Cardigan: Along with the 16-track album, Taylor unveiled the album’s lead single Cardigan and its coinciding music video, which she wrote and directed on a ‘socially-distanced’ set; Taylor pictured in the Cardigan music video
‘In fact, nobody knew, including her label, until hours before it was launched,’ he revealed.
‘For someone who’s been in this glaring spotlight for 15 years, it’s really liberating to have some privacy and work on her own terms. She deserves that.’
Along with Folklore’s surprise release, Taylor unveiled the album’s lead single Cardigan and its coinciding music video, which she wrote and directed on a ‘socially-distanced’ set.
Closed set: Swift’s collaborator Aaron Dessner revealed in an interview with Pitchfork that ‘there was no outside influence at all’ when it came to creating Folklore; Aaron pictured in 2019
It was revealed in the video’s credits that Swift and her crew operated ‘under the strictest guidelines’ in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the shoot.
‘A special thank you to our set medics, COVID-19 compliance personnel, and the crew for operating under the strictest guidelines including wearing PPE, practicing thorough sanitization, and respecting social distancing during the video shoot.’
In the four-minute and 35-second video, Swift journeys through her piano into a mythical realm that forces her to confront, both, tranquility and turmoil.
Artistic: In the four-minute and 35-second video, Swift journeys through her piano into a mythical realm that forces her to confront, both, tranquility and turmoil