In an unexpected announcement, Taylor Swift revealed that she will be releasing her eighth studio album tonight at midnight, less than a year after her last album, "Lover," came out.
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The 30-year-old began leaving hints on her Instagram page when she shared a series of black-and-white photos of the woods Thursday morning.
Then, she broke the news, writing: "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 🤗"
The singer wrote and recorded the music in isolation and took all that unexpected free time to collaborate with some of her "musical heroes," including Aaron Dessner, Bon Iver, William Bowery and Jack Antonoff.
The new album is titled "folklore" and will come in two versions: a standard edition with 16 songs and several deluxe editions with a bonus track called “the lakes.”
"Because this is my 8th studio album, I made 8 deluxe CD editions and 8 deluxe vinyl editions that are available for one week😄 Each deluxe edition has unique covers, photos, and artwork," Swift wrote.
Swift isn't wasting any time promoting her new album, either, and will release a music video, which she directed, for her first single "cardigan" tonight.
"The entire shoot was overseen by a medical inspector, everyone wore masks, stayed away from each other, and I even did my own hair, makeup, and styling 😂," the singer said about extra precautions taken during the pandemic.
Swift certainly took everyone by surprise with the announcement, and she acknowledged that she's being a bit more spontaneous with this album release.
"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," she wrote. "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."
