If another person tells me they have achieved some great feat in lockdown, then there is a very real chance I will lose the tenuous grip I have on my sanity and stability. People are learning other languages, writing books, and are doing something other than catastrophising about the impending doom of 2021. Although, if Taylor Swift releases something else unannounced, the direct shot of serotonin into my veins will surely blind me to the intimidating reality of Swift’s lockdown productivity.
“I’m fine with my spite, and my tears, and my beers and my candles”
– Lyrics from Taylor Swift’s ‘closure‘ from evermore, or a snapshot of my lockdown lifestyle?
Swift’s recent immense creative output slightly predates the pandemic, but cannot be separated from the reality of COVID 19. Her Lover album era began in 2019 but was ultimately cut short by the pandemic and numerous lockdowns. Swift still managed to produce four singles and accompanying music videos in this time, for:
- ‘Me!’ in April 2019
- ‘You Need to Calm Down’ in June 2019
- ‘Lover’ in August of 2019
- ‘The Man’ in January of 2020
Additionally, she performed in Paris in 2019, for her ‘City of Lover‘ show that was streamed on Hulu and Disney+. Unfortunately, the planner Loverfest tour has just recently been cancelled, and there has been no talk of whether Swift’s headlining slot for Glastonbury’s 50th anniversary will be taking place on the next iteration of the event, whenever it is safe to do so. In fact, 2020 was shaping up to be a Cruel Summer indeed, with the increasing number of festival cancellations and tour postponements. That is, until the surprise release of folklore on July 24th 2020.
This means that in the past two years, one of which has largely been on hold as a result of a global health crisis, Taylor Swift has:
- Released three full-length albums, comprising of:
- fifty-two tracks in total
- eleven singles
- six music videos
- Released a Christmas single and accompanying music video
- Released an original track co-written with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and appeared in the 2019 film Cats (of which she was undoubtedly a rare highlight in the psychedelic hellscape Tom Hooper unleashed on the world)
- Released the Netflix Documentary Miss Americana with an accompanying promotional single
- Had two concert films launched through Disney+, namely the City of Lover Concert, and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
In the last few weeks alone, we have also had a feature on ‘Gasoline‘ with HAIM, and the surprise drop of the much anticipated ‘Love Story (Taylor’s Version).’ This single was released in the run-up to her upcoming album release, the re-recording of her second studio album. Fearless was released in 2008, resulting in Swift winning the 2010 Album of the Year Grammy. The rerecord will be released this year, on April 9th.
The sheer magnitude and recent frequency of Swift’s artistic production is especially intriguing when looking back on her career. Swift’s first five albums were released on what appears to be a pretty strict schedule, every two years (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014) and in either October or November. This final quarterly release would then be followed in the spring with the commencement of a year-long world tour, wrapping up in time for the cycle to begin again. This pattern was abruptly halted, following what many consider to be the most difficult year of Taylor Swift’s career, 2016. Following on from the record-breaking success of 1989, for many, it seemed as if Swift’s star power would only continue to rise stratospherically. What followed would be a year in which Swift was continuously torn down on social media and in the press, while also adding more fuel to the complex history between Kanye West and Taylor Swift.
Swift herself commented in her Netflix documentary “Nobody physically saw me for a year. That’s what I thought they wanted” in the wake of the fallout of 2016. Following on from the intense media presence that came with the 1989 era, the contrast was huge. This was further cemented with the promotional run-up to 2017’s Reputation album. The wiped social media, and the sudden release of the music video ‘Look What You Made Me Do,’ is widely considered to be Swift taking back the narrative of 2016.
Taking in the enforced gap between 1989 and Reputation, and subsequent troubles with her previous record label Big Machine, the sheer volume of content produced since joining Republic Records is again startling. Perhaps, joining a new label has truly allowed Taylor the freedom to release the music she wants to be making when she wants to make it. This is especially clear as Republic Records were unaware that Swift has even recorded folklore until a week before the sudden release.
“I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace/‘Cause when I’d fight, you used to tell me I was brave/And if I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake?” – This Is Me Trying, folklore
There is a wealth of opinion and legalese on the decision by Taylor to re-record her entire discography and regain ownership of her songs. In fact, much of the breakdown of the relationship between Swift and Scott Borchetta, who signed her onto Big Machine Records at the age of fourteen, can be explored in the themes of folklore and evermore. This is most notable in the track ‘This is Me Trying‘ from folklore. Whatever the reasons for re-recording, and no matter your opinion on whether it is a genius marketing move, a powerful step in recognising artists rights, or simply a vanity project destined to waste money, one thing is clear: If you thought the scale of production since 2019 was immense, the coming two years will be overwhelming.
If her upcoming album Fearless (Taylors Version) continues in the vein of the first single released, we are in for a sonic treat with refined production and mature vocals. For the fans of Swift who were introduced to her through 2008’s Fearless, hearing Swift’s current vocals that are arguably at their most healthy and vibrant singing songs she wrote at nineteen will be a nostalgic journey few artists could reproduce. If she is looking at re-recording all of the tracks she no longer has the rights to, she has over 160 songs to re-record. There are so many artists whose fans are desperately waiting for new music. Rihanna’s last album release was 2016, Lorde’s was in 2017 and Frank Ocean’s was 2016, to name a few. With the work ahead of her, it doesn’t seem like it will be too long until we hear something new from Swift.
On April 9th, twenty-six tracks will be added to Swift’s running total of production, not only since her label move but since the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic. Quite frankly, she is the only person I have been truly invested in throughout this pandemic.
