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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
On her second surprise album of the year, Swift pushes the boundaries of her indie reinvention, adding a bit of '1989'-era gloss to produce a beacon of hope.
100
It expands on its predecessor's promise in thrilling ways, with Swift cracking open her universe of subjects and following musical ideas to serendipitous places.
100
evermore as a whole should not exactly be heard as a direct comparison to folklore but as a continuation of a bigger story—one where Swift is toying with new structures, storytelling techniques, and surveying where she can take her career next after she is ready to leave the woods.
100
While keeping Folklore's circle of collaborators close, Swift has expanded the minimal sonic palette they established on Evermore, while sharpening her narrative focus and proving herself a peerless songwriter and storyteller.
91
evermore is even better than folklore, thanks to greater sonic cohesion and stronger songwriting.
90
evermore manages to build out on the world Swift birthed with its predecessor while achieving some of its own stylistic independence.
90
No doubt Swift is still the master of writing a spiteful kiss-off, but the songs of Evermore are a welcomed step in a more mature direction, the result of months and months of her getting lost in the woods and questioning her way forward. By the time you’re reading this, she may have already found the answer.
90
In the ensuing five months, sounds have matured, voices have harmonised, stories have brewed, and Taylor Swift has crafted some of the best music of her career.
90
We are truly lucky to be able to have an artist, not only as talented as Swift is, but one that is so good at sharing experiences that we are able to relate to, that we can take solace in and remember, if even for an hour at a time, we aren’t alone out there.
90
As we all delve further into the “folklorian woods”, the sense that this is the music Taylor Swift was born to make, only grows stronger.
90
There are lyricists and there are storytellers, and in a year of uncertainty and inconsistency, Taylor Swift has emerged as the most assured songwriter of her generation.
83
evermore doesn’t necessarily add anything new to the conversation its older sister started, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that if this collection had been released first, it would have been received nearly as positively as its predecessor.
80
On folklore and evermore, she, and her listeners, have turned her life into folklore, a blend of reality and fiction, lost in those deep woods of quarantine where she sits and writes arguably the best music of her career.
80
It would be a disservice to suggest ‘evermore’ is just a ‘folklore 2.0’. Swift would never be so lazy - have you met her? It reads as a companion, not an extension. Sisters, not twins.
80
Swift enjoys playing with the new musical and emotional colors on her palette for Evermore to anything but a warm balm, a record suited for contemplation, not loneliness.
80
The pandemic seems to have freed her, given her the space to breathe, and has allowed her to produce her most elegant and sophisticated work to date.
80
Swift has written about curdling relationships splendidly in the past, but there's a new dimension to her writing that wasn’t there before.
80
Musically, Swift seems to be attempting something similar: songs with no sonic upper case, a shift away from pop's ceaseless peak and trough, the start perhaps of something new.
80
As a direct follow up, Evermore may lack the impactful frisson of Folklore, but is nevertheless another treat of classy, emotional songcraft.
80
evermore is not a perfect album, nor is it Taylor’s best. It does, however, offer a fascinating scripture baked in conceptual storytelling that straddles the line between realism and fairy-tale. In that regard, it’s kind of like many other Taylor albums. It’s just part of her evolution.
80
Evermore is an album that almost makes you believe in happy endings again.
80
Swift has morphed seamlessly from stadium superstar to woodland wanderer, crafting restrained ballads ideal for holed-up winter listening.
80
Evermore finds Swift digging further into her explorations of narrative voice and shifting points of view, taking bigger risks in trying to discover how the newfound breadth of her songwriting could possibly reconcile with the arc of her career.
80
On her second surprise release of 2020, the world’s biggest pop star coolly refuses to reconfigure herself on demand.
80
If Folklore felt like coming home for Swift, whose storytelling has been a part of her armour for so long, then Evermore is the process of coming home to realise that you’ve changed, the childhood house looks smaller now, and everything isn’t quite as it was; it’s somehow both magical and sobering.
80
As well as sounding incredible as a whole (not all of Swift’s previous albums have hung together as well as this one) these songs also have the air of a victory lap about them, as though Taylor’s basking in the glow of this new cottagecore indie-pop hybrid she’s found(ed).
80
Evermore effectively continues the job that Folklore started, moving Swift away from mainstream pop into alt-rockier waters. It’s a smoother, less forced transition than it might be for some of her peers.
79
Working again with Aaron Dessner, Swift challenges herself to find new dimensions within the moody atmosphere: fingerpicked ballads, colorful pop music, and her first country songs in years.
78
She’s comfortably settled into a woodsy new world where third-person stories outnumber her own diary entries, not quite reaching the heights of her best album, Red, or the pop mastery of 1989, but creating something equally satisfying. It’s a more restful kind of wealth.
78
While songs on “folklore” seem to be more popular, fun, and tells more of a story, “evermore” showcases Swift’s ability for songwriting and ability to once again prove she can write anything and it will be a hit.
70
Taylor Swift tops off 2020 with another solid helping of indie folk - in case anyone thought Folklore was a fluke.
70
While retreading folklore's ground, evermore deepens and enriches its older sister's world.
70
evermore provides a handsome, bare-bones platform for her ability as a songwriter.
69
Not everything on evermore truly works or lands satisfyingly, but it’s all part of a creative process that is producing some of her best and most surprising work to date.
60
On her richly resonant second album of the year, Swift dabbles with country noir and dives into the world of unbalanced relationships.
58
It adds little to the reinvention established by Folklore and doesn’t deepen her work within this sound in particularly convincing terms.
It's not as good as the Folklore album, but this surprising sequel shows just how well this new aesthetic suits Taylor Swift. Evermore is like a symbol of a flourishing artist who has drawn strong inspiration from 'folk', enabling her to offer a satisfying second album that same year. I don't know how long this phase will last, but Taylor Swift has found the magic formula she needs to take her career to the next level.
For someone who is not a fan, I would say that for me Taylor Swift sums it ... read more
Why, yes! I do think enjoy this just as much as its predecessor, "Folklore"!
I wish I could tell you why, yet again... here goes nothing.
Well I do declare, Taylor sure caught us all off-guard this year, sharing TWO (count 'em) TWO folk-oriented albums over the course of just a couple months. The level of maturity really stacks up from her previous efforts, providing that immersive, personal, hometown feel that, most of the time, follows the standard folk aesthetic.
These melodies ... read more
willow:80
champagne problem:100
gold rush:88
‘it’s the damn season:90
tolerate it:87
no body, no crime:84
happiness:85
dorothea:88
coney island:89
ivy:90
cowboy like me:90
long story short:90
marjorie:86
closure:92
evermore:89
right where you left me:95
it’s time to go:92
Contributions By
philthy, MusicXXY, Pacaveli, domvic, Toasterqueen12, anztec, hzy0421, Monika015, roberth3108, Muratka, AnnOli, AndyNguyen, KevMetzger, badkarma, gbar25, asianboyian, OPENblindsBecome a Donor
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Track List
| 1 | willow 3:34 | 88 |
| 2 | champagne problems 4:04 | 90 |
| 3 | gold rush 3:05 | 87 |
| 4 | 'tis the damn season 3:49 | 85 |
| 5 | tolerate it 4:05 | 88 |
| 6 | no body, no crime 3:35 feat. HAIM | 86 |
| 7 | happiness 5:15 | 85 |
| 8 | dorothea 3:45 | 81 |
| 9 | coney island 4:35 feat. The National | 85 |
| 10 | ivy 4:20 | 85 |
| 11 | cowboy like me 4:35 | 84 |
| 12 | long story short 3:35 | 84 |
| 13 | marjorie 4:17 | 86 |
| 14 | closure 3:00 | 79 |
| 15 | evermore 5:04 feat. Bon Iver | 89 |
Total Length: 1 hour
Year End Lists
| #1 | / | USA Today |
| #1 | / | Variety: Chris Willman |
| #4 | / | Our Culture |
| #6 | / | Chorus.fm |
| #6 | / | The Philadelphia Inquirer: Dan DeLuca |
| #7 | / | Good Morning America |
| / | Uproxx |
By Dalton
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Added on: December 10, 2020