It’s the pop star’s second surprise release in 2020

Taylor Swift has announced that she is dropping her second album of 2020, Evermore, at midnight ET tonight (Dec 11th) via Republic Records. The project is her ninth studio album and sister companion to her surprise July release of Folklore. The pop star shared the surprise release on social media this morning (Thurs, Dec 10th).

“I’m elated to tell you that my 9th studio album, and folklore’s sister record, will be out tonight at midnight eastern. It’s called evermore. To put it plainly, we just couldn’t stop writing songs. To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in. I’ve never done this before. In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one after an album was released. There was something different with folklore. In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning. I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found into your lives. So I just kept writing them. And I loved creating these songs with Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, WB, and Justin Vernon. We’ve also welcomed some new (and longtime) friends to our musical kitchen table this time around…” she shares.

The music video for the album’s first single “Willow” will also be released at midnight ET.

“Tonight the story continues, as the music video for ‘willow’ drops at midnight eastern. I’m forever grateful to the following creatives who have helped and guided me to be able to direct my own videos: Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, producer Jil Hardin, 1st AD Joe ‘Oz’ Osbourne, Co-1st AD Ev Salomon, Exec Producer Rebecca Skinner, editor Chancler Haynes, set designers Ethan Tobman and Regina Fernandez and visual effects geniuses Grant Miller and David Lebensfeld. Thank you to our medical inspector who made sure every precaution was taken for our safety. I’ll see you guys in the YouTube premiere page chat before midnight to answer some questions,” she shares.

Swift turns 31 on Sunday (Dec 13th), and is gifting the album to fans in celebration.

“Ever since I was 13, I’ve been excited about turning 31 because it’s my lucky number backwards, which is why I wanted to surprise you with this now. You’ve all been so caring, supportive and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I thought I would give you something! I also know this holiday season will be a lonely one for most of us and if there are any of you out there who turn to music to cope with missing loved ones the way I do, this is for you,” she writes.

The standard edition of Evermore will feature 15 tracks while the deluxe physical editions will contain two bonus tracks: “Right Where You Left Me” and “It’s Time To Go.” All digital downloads of the album will include an exclusive, digital booklet with 16 brand new photos.

Evermore can be pre-ordered now at https://taylor.lnk.to/evermorealbum. Physical configurations include CD, cassette and LP, all with staggered release dates of December 18th, February 12th and May 28th, respectively, due to manufacturing delays by the pandemic.

Folklore has obtained gold and platinum status by the RIAA. The album arrived over the summer to widespread acclaim and audience excitement. It became the top-selling record of 2020 worldwide and is the only album this year to cross one million albums in pure sales in the U.S. Swift notably completed “the longest consecutive run at No. 1 since 2016” with six straight weeks atop the Billboard 200. The album also marks eight nonconsecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart, beating Whitney Houston’s Billboard record of 46. Swift has also achieved 48 cumulative weeks at No. 1 across all of her chart-topping albums which marks a record amongst women.

Swift also teamed with Disney + to release Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions documentary featuring Swift, Aaron Dessner (The National), Jack Antonoff (Bleachers) and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) performing and discussing the album’s production that was recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The doc was filmed in upstate New York in September 2020 and is available now on the platform and Hulu.

1. Willow
2. Champagne Problem
3. Gold Rush
4. ‘Tis the Damn Season
5. Tolerate It
6. No Body, No Crime (Feat. Haim)
7. Happiness
8. Dorothea
9. Coney Island (Feat. the National)
10. Ivy
11. Cowboy Like Me
12. Long Story Short
13. Marjorie
14. Closure
15. Evermore (Feat. Bon Iver)
16. Right Where You Left Me [Bonus Track]
17. It’s Time to Go [Bonus Track]

Read More: Taylor Swift Reveals Ninth Studio Album, ‘Evermore’ | https://tasteofcountry.com/taylor-swift-ninth-studio-album-evermore/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral