Taylor Swift向來高調兼心思細密，每一次大碟推出前，都會發佈隱藏關於新大碟及歌曲的相片短片，讓粉絲們解密一番。沒想到，日前她竟然一改作風，毫無預警下宣佈第8張專輯《folklore》，結果又一次成功吸引全球注意。究竟這一次《folklore》有何特別？原來與一件舊毛衣有關。
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Most of the things I had planned this summer didn’t end up happening, but there is something I hadn’t planned on that DID happen. And that thing is my 8th studio album, folklore. Surprise 🤗Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. I wrote and recorded this music in isolation but got to collaborate with some musical heroes of mine; @aarondessner (who has co-written or produced 11 of the 16 songs), @boniver (who co-wrote and was kind enough to sing on one with me), William Bowery (who co-wrote two with me) and @jackantonoff (who is basically musical family at this point). Engineered by Laura Sisk and Jon Low, mixed by Serban Ghenea & Jon Low. The album photos were shot by the amazing @bethgarrabrant. Before this year I probably would’ve overthought when to release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, but the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed. My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world. That’s the side of uncertainty I can get on board with. Love you guys so much ♥️
Taylor Swift（@taylorswift）分享的帖子 於 PDT 2020 年 7月 月 23 日 5:00 上午 發佈
距離上一張專題《Lover》推出只有11個月，3日前Taylor Swift在毫無預警下，突然宣佈第8張專輯《folklore》會於16小時後推出。Taylor於instgram上說：「今個夏天我的原定計劃大多都沒有發生，但一個我沒有預計的事情卻完成了，就是我的第8張個人大碟《folklore》，我將所有奇妙的思想、夢想、恐懼和沈思都注入其中。」她直言自己通常會等待完美的時間發行專輯，但現今全球局勢提醒她，世事沒有任何保證。
《folklore》請來The National的結他手Aaron Dessner、Bon Iver的靈魂人物Justin Vernon及長期好拍檔Jack Antonoff，於疫症隔離期間各人於家中完成錄製。
頭炮單曲〈cardigan〉，Taylor Swift說過這首歌講述是失去的浪漫，解釋年輕的愛情留下不可磨滅的印記。有指〈cardigan〉是獻給她的男友Joe Alwyn，她把自己寫成一件被遺忘的舊毛衣，活在別人的舊記憶中，感激男友的支持，現在成了男友身上柔軟且貼身的寵兒。
〈cardigan〉MV同時推出，Taylor Swift於古舊的大屋彈著三角琴，琴椅能帶她穿越空間，到森林深處，然後落到茫茫大海中，Taylor緊抱著三角琴，最後回到最初的古老大屋，穿上開胸外衣 (cardigan)保暖，喻意一來走來，幸虧有鋼琴相伴走過。
今次《folklore》共發行8個不同封面照的CD及黑膠唱片，這個「meet me behind the mall」主題照片是其中之一。今次《folklore》沒有任何發行前夕的宣傳，Taylor仍貫徹她每次新大碟的「數字遊戲」，為慶祝第8張大碟的誕生，更一口氣推出16首全新歌曲，而豪華版更加推多一首歌〈the lakes〉。她向來喜歡推出多款成品版本，今次亦不例外，共發行8個不同封面照的CD及黑膠唱片，還有卡式錄音帶，共17款產品！