Taylor Swift : " Folk Lore"

When I first listened to this album at the midnight release, I was just clicking songs as they came up, there were a couple videos for the singles then every thing else was a lyric video. Listen to the album in the context of an album finds it mkaing more sense. Orginally hailed as her collaboration with Bon Iver and the National. They do have a prescence on this album, though it is still very much a Taylor Swift album. This is certainly Taylor now as a full fledged adult musician with the youthful exhuberance of her pop days behind her. In other words if you are here for another "Blank Space" prepare for disappointment. She has retain pop sensibility , but even the song writing feels like it is aimed at an older audience.  She has a serious more introspective look, in a way it is darker. The album opens with something that could have been on "Reputation" as moves with the modern pop groove and her lyrics fall into the perfect cracks of the beat. With some of her best lyrical work to date lines like "you know the greatest loves of all time are over now" find her taking a less rose colored look at the world.

"Exhile" is the duet with her and Bon Iver. The male vocals taking the first verse with Swift coming in after. It is a somewhat melancholic shade of great and stunning melodies from both parties. There are some interesting things done with her voice . Her main vocal finds her singing in in a more subdued lower mid range. Sure there are still love songs, but these feel framed in the context of given the state of the world how important is getting lost in my feelings. Instead the emotional is shown not told. She surprisingly put the socio -political commentary on the back burner with the one exception being the feminist notions on "Mad Woman".  I am going to be really surprised if she wasn't stoned when she wrote "Mirror Ball" which is a good thing. Mood wise in many ways this reminds me of Bjork's " Vespertine" album or Tori Amos' "Under the Pink". She has certainly established herself here as a force in music to be taken as seriously as Bjork or Amos.  "Seven" certainly lends credence to the Amos comparison. She takes a more upbeat approach to the melody on the second verse. Though this like many of the songs doesn't have the sugary pop chorus to is too obvious.
It is not a huge leap from the "Lover" album just not as happy. There is a slight carefree tinge to "August". I think her breathy vocal smootes this out.

There are still some surprises for me as I missed "This is Me Trying" on my inital Youtube listen. It finds her voice gliding nicely over the sonic simmer. "Illicit Affairs" might be back to her love gone wrong lamentations , but the melodies click for me more now than they did on the first listen. "Invisible String" is another new one for me. The strum of guitar leaves open space to create a groove closer what we have grown to know her as. I think "Mad woman " is the first time I have heard her say fuck. The song grew on me despite it's overt girl power. "epiphany" did not resonate with me the first time I heard it and I had to listen to it a couple times once I downloaded the album to connect. I think she makes some interesting choices melody wise. "Betty" is the only song that harkens back to her country past. "Peace" musically reminds me of Bon Iver, it grows on me, this and the song after as more minimal and work off less hooky vocal lines so take time to grow on me. I will give this album a 10, I think it is pretty clear the reasons why, if you are not into Taylor Swift, this is the album to check out.