Taylor Swift’s ‘folklore’ is her first album to be classified as alternative
It looks like Taylor Swift‘s discography now has three different genre classifications. Since its surprise release on July 24, her eighth studio album folklore has earned an alternative classification.
The alternative classification marks the first release from Swift to fall under this genre.
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Starting out as a country artist, Swift’s first four albums – Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now and Red – fall under the country genre. Then, in 2014, Swift made the bold decision to switch genres completely. She debuted her fifth studio album 1989 with the pop anthem “Shake It Off.”
From there, her most recent albums – Reputation and Lover – also fall under the pop genre. In 2019, she reinforced her spot in pop music with the single “ME!” which features Panic! At The Disco‘s Brendon Urie.
After less than a year since the release of Lover, however, Swift decided to surprise release folklore on Friday. The 16-track album’s sound and influences are greatly different from the music we have previously heard from Swift.
Collaborating with Bon Iver‘s Justin Vernon, The National‘s Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff (Bleachers, fun.), Swift has introduced a completely new sound with folklore. So, it’s no surprise that the album now falls under a different genre umbrella.
Following its release on Friday, folklore officially appears under the alternative music genre on streaming services such as iTunes. This means that folklore is her first album to fall under the alternative genre. As well, it is the third genre classification in her discography.
? | #folklore has officially been classed as an “alternative” album — this is the first album of Taylor Swift’s to fit this genre.
The entire length of the album is 1 hour and 3 minutes. Five of the sixteen songs are explicit. pic.twitter.com/pot860Vrbr
— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) July 24, 2020
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Along with the album’s release, Swift debuted a lengthy poem explaining the influences and inspiration behind folklore. In the poem, she notes that the album was written while in complete isolation amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“In isolation, my imagination has run wild and this album is the result,” she says. “A collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness. Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory. I’ve told these stories to the best of my ability with all the love, wonder, and whimsy they deserve. Now it’s up to you to pass them down.”
She also reveals that the album’s content is heavily inspired by her real-life experiences. As she continued to explore them, however, they became stories in her head.
“Pretty soon these images in my head grew faces or names and became characters,” she continues. “I found myself not only writing my own stories but also writing about or from the perspective of people I’ve never met, people I’ve known or those I wish I hadn’t.”
In isolation my imagination has run wild and this album is the result. I’ve told these stories to the best of my ability with all the love, wonder, and whimsy they deserve. Now it’s up to you to pass them down. folklore is out now: https://t.co/xdcEDfithq
?: Beth Garrabrant pic.twitter.com/vSDo9Se0fp
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 24, 2020
She has also released a music video for her new single “cardigan.” The single appears as the second song on folklore.
Do you think folklore should fall under the alternative genre? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
