This is an opinion article piece. Emma Stark is a sophomore at Mendham who writes for Sports News. All opinions expressed in the following editorial are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Patriot. 

This past summer, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift surprised fans with the release of her eighth studio album Folklore. Only eleven months after the release of her previous album Lover, the thirty-year-old produced an emotionally raw, stripped-down collection of songs. While her past three albums have embraced the pop genre, Folklore struck the music industry with its alternative sound, taking Swift’s career to a whole new level. Folklore tops all other Swift albums, from its distinct sound and expanded collaborations, to the singer-songwriter’s vivid story-telling and vulnerability, as well as the milestones achieved from the album’s success. 

Written and recorded during the first few months of the global pandemic, the career-defining album marks career milestones for Swift months after its release. Just last weekend, the artist surpassed Whitney Houston for the most cumulative weeks at No. 1 among women on the Billboard 200 chart. Folklore became No. 1 for the seventh nonconsecutive week. Across all eight of her chart-topping albums, Taylor Swift holds the record of 47 weeks at No. 1, among all female artists. 

A mere week after the album’s release, Folklore became 2020’s biggest seller after 615,000 copies were sold. The previous leader, Map of the Soul: 7, written by K-Pop’s BTS, sold 574,000 copies in the U.S. since coming out last February. Critics may bring to light the fact that Swift’s previous album Lover sold 679,000 copies in its first week. However, according to the Los Angeles Times, Swift’s label, Republic Records, declared Folklore’s global sales surpassing two million as of August 2, just over a week after the album’s release. When comparing the two albums, Lover solely made 3.2 million sales globally since its release in August 2019. 

The statistics of the album’s success is not only what makes Folklore stand out amongst Swift’s past seven albums. Her storytelling brings this album to life; Taylor expands her song-writing perspective throughout the album in a way she has never done before. In “My Tears Ricochet”, for instance, Swift tells the story of a failed relationship. Here, Taylor puts listeners in the shoes of the main character, so they can experience the character’s emotions. Swift further extends her story-telling through a teenage love triangle. As stated in The Queen’s Journal, fans have identified three songs: “Cardigan”, “August”, and “Betty” to represent a different perspective of each of the three characters in the same love story. Each character reflects on their involvement at varying points in their lives throughout each song. Although Swift has yet to confirm which three songs officially make up the narrative, Rohini Datta, journalist for The Queen’s Journal, says “her powerful and eloquent lyrics bring these characters to life. ” 

As Swift begins to move beyond telling her personal stories, her vulnerability is heard significantly throughout each song. In prior albums, Taylor has delivered “a mix of moods, blending ballads, dance songs and catchy radio hits,” Alex Darus, from The Cleveland reports, yet Folklore takes a different approach. The singer-songwriter strays away from the pressure of writing pop radio hits and instead pours her emotions into each song. 

Though Swift is known for her song-writing, she frequently collaborates with fellow artists and producers. With the help of the National’s Aaron Dessner, Swift’s new sound, unique to her previous albums, is brought to life through Folklore. As described in The Cleveland, the singer-songwriter often collaborated with those who delivered pop-hits, such as the lead vocalist of Panic! at the Disco, Brendon Urie, who collaborated with Swift on her pop single “ME!”. Now, Swift has expanded her collaborations tremendously, continuing to stray away from the pop genre. Dessner’s alternative influence played a major role in Folklore, along with the collaboration on track four, “Exile”, with Bon Iver. Another collaborator, singer-songwriter and record producer Jack Antonoff, contributed his indie style to the album as well. Even though Taylor has not released an alternative album before Folklore, her collaborations largely added to the album’s popularity. 

Taylor Swift continues to impress the media time after time. Even when experimenting with new genres of music, her dedicated and passionate fan base sticks by her side no matter what. Through her unexpected, yet compatible collaborations, the singer-songwriter brought a new sound to an album that distinctly contrasts the music written in previous Swift albums. Along with this new sound came Swift’s story-telling, vulnerability, and career milestones setting Folklore apart from all other Taylor Swift albums. From country to pop to alternative, there is no telling what is next for Taylor Swift.