Folklore: A Track by Track Review

Upon a timely return to the Midwest

Taylor Swift releasing an undeniably autumn album in July is absolutely strange, but it’s never too far from my mind that Taylor Swift is WEIRD. The image of her standing alone amidst the trees in a long, checkered wool coat doesn’t really make sense for the dead of summer, but if the quarantine has taught us one thing, it’s that time doesn’t really matter. And that Taylor Swift is all over the place.

Quarantine has reduced us all to dust, looking for comfort and a return. The other week I purchased a pair of pink denim cut offs. My favorite group text has described quarantine as an absolute state of regression. So, in a lot of ways, it makes sense that Taylor thought to release a woodsy, 2010’s album from the comfort of her own home. To me, it works most of all because Taylor Swift was GOOD then.

folklore takes a critical look at nostalgia, myth, and memory — how it pulls us all backward and forward in time. and in this reflective space, nothing is clear but it’s all laid out. it’s …