Taylor Swift's surprise 'folklore' reinvents her sound

Taylor Swift upended expectations and reinvented her sound with "folklore," a surprise album written and recorded in lockdown that marked a bold departure into indie-folk and singer-songwriter territory, winning some of the strongest critical acclaim of her career.

Announced with almost no warning and released within hours, the album traded the polished pop of her recent work for something quieter, more atmospheric and more introspective — muted production, fingerpicked guitars and piano, and lyrics that turned increasingly to storytelling and invented characters rather than autobiography.

Collaborating with indie-rock producers, Swift crafted a cohesive, wintry mood that suited the strange, suspended atmosphere of the pandemic. The album's narrative songs, including an interlinked trio telling a story from multiple perspectives, showcased a new maturity and ambition in her writing.

Critics, some of whom had been lukewarm on her pop albums, embraced "folklore" enthusiastically, praising its restraint, its craft and its emotional depth, and it would go on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year. It was also a commercial success, proving that artistic reinvention and mass appeal need not be at odds.

Swift followed it just months later with a companion album in a similar vein, an extraordinarily prolific burst of creativity during the lockdown period. Together the records represented a pivotal turn in her career, revealing new dimensions of an artist who had already achieved enormous success and demonstrating a restless creative drive that kept her at the forefront of popular music.