The release of Taylor Swift’s newest album evermore was a huge surprise to her fans, after only finding out about it 16 hours prior. It came on Dec. 11, 2020, only two days before Swift’s birthday. 

Swift had left many guessing after her cryptic post on Instagram with the caption, “Not a lot going on at the moment.” She commented this on an earlier post as well, days before her previous album was released. evermore’s sister album folklore only came five months before. 

evermore is only the second alternative/indie album by Swift. She continues to impress others with her versatility in music. As tweeted by the New York Times, “The new record moves Swift further away from her pop past, toward elegant but cerebral craftsmanship.” 

This album goes deeper into the world of folklore, and many of the perspectives portrayed in these songs have some connection to her life. Swift takes her music and transports the listener to a whole different world in these two connected albums. It’s as though they are closely following a narrative. 

evermore features guest appearances from a few American bands—Bon Iver, Haim and The National. It consists of 15 songs along with two additional bonus tracks. Swift, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff all wrote and produced this album. 

evermore debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number one and remained on top for three weeks; it being Swift’s second number-one album in 2020. With a total of nine studio albums of various genres, many are left wondering what’s in store for her next.