Taylor Swift’s eighth studio album, folklore, was recorded “in isolation” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike her previous album rollouts, it wasn’t preceded by any press or fanfare—Swift announced it via social media a mere sixteen hours prior to release.

The album has been described by Swift as “wistful and full of escapism” that is also “sad, beautiful, tragic”:

[It’s] like a photo album full of imagery, and all the stories behind that imagery.

The writing and production on folklore was in majority a remote collaboration between Swift, Aaron Dessner (of The National), and Jack Antonoff. Of the album’s sixteen tracks, Dessner co-wrote or produced eleven while Antonoff co-produced six and co-wrote four. Other writers include Bon Iver (co-wrote and featured on “exile”) and William Bowery (co-wrote “exile” and “betty”).

Alongside the release of the album’s title, Swift also revealed the tracklist and shared that the music video for the lead single would premiere the same night.

On October 26, 2020, the album became the first million-selling album of 2020 in the United States.