Taylor Swift announces surprise album produced by The National's Aaron Dessner

Taylor Swift has released a surprise album featuring indie luminaries including The National's guitarist Aarons Dessner who produces the album and cowrote 11 of its 16 tracks.

Lockdown has obviously been good for Swift's creativity; she wrote her eighth album when her other 2020 musical plans fell through.

Her self-directed video for the song Cardigan is viewable above.

Read whats she has to say about Folklore from her Instagram post below:

Most of the things I had planned this summer didn’t end up happening, but there is something I hadn’t planned on that DID happen. And that thing is my 8th studio album, folklore. Surprise 🤗Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. I wrote and recorded this music in isolation but got to collaborate with some musical heroes of mine; @aarondessner (who has co-written or produced 11 of the 16 songs), @boniver (who co-wrote and was kind enough to sing on one with me), William Bowery (who co-wrote two with me) and @jackantonoff (who is basically musical family at this point). Engineered by Laura Sisk and Jon Low, mixed by Serban Ghenea & Jon Low. The album photos were shot by the amazing @bethgarrabrant. Before this year I probably would’ve overthought when to release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, but the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed. My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world. That’s the side of uncertainty I can get on board with. Love you guys so much ♥️ Taylor Swift
A photo posted by @taylorswift on Jul 23, 2020 at 5:00am PDT

So with the personnel involved we're expecting something different musically than what we've heard from Swift before – is this the closest she'll get to her take on an indie album?

Folklore tracklist:

01. The 1
02. Cardigan
03. The Last Great American Dynasty
04. Exile” (feat. Bon Iver)
05. My Tears Ricochet
06. Mirrorball
07. Seven
08. August
09. This Is Me Trying
10. Illicit Affairs
11. Invisible String
12. Mad Woman
13. Epiphany
14. Betty
15. Peace
16. Hoax

Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of his waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear while making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing anything with a Floyd Rose.