Taylor Swift’s surprise new album Folklore was such a secret that even her record label didn’t even know about it until just before its release
Taylor Swift surprised more than just her fans when she dropped her brand new album Folklore on Friday.
It turns out the prolific singer-songwriter’s record label Republic Records didn’t even know about it under right before it was released on Friday.
Written and recorded while in isolation due to COVID-19, Swift collaborated on 11 of the 16 new songs on the already hit album with multi instrumentalist Aaron Dessner of the indie rock band The National.
Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore was kept to secret that even her own record label didn’t know about it until right before it was released on Friday
in an interview with Pitchfork, Dessner shared some of the behind-the-scenes details on how he and the pop superstar were able to keep the project a secret.
‘There was no outside influence at all. In fact, nobody knew, including her label, until hours before it was launched,’ he revealed.
‘For someone who’s been in this glaring spotlight for 15 years, it’s really liberating to have some privacy and work on her own terms. She deserves that.’
Swift collaborated on 11 of the 16 new songs on the already hit album with multi instrumentalist Aaron Dessner of the indie rock band The National
On the down low: in an interview with Pitchfork, Dessner revealed how when he wanted friends to play on the record, he couldn’t have Swift’s vocals in the file
Dessner also dished on how when he wanted friends to play on the record, he couldn’t have Swift’s vocals in the file, in order to keep the album a secret.
‘At the end, I reached out to some wizards just to add bits, and that was nice. It was kind of fun:
‘What? Why can’t you tell me, Aaron?’ some of them asked.
‘Then they start guessing. Everyone made a game out of it.’
Dessner even kept his working relationship with Swift a secret from his eight-year-old daughter, who’s a big Swiftie fan; he is pictured in May 2019
Rockers: Dessner plays in The National, a critically acclaimed indie rock band known for their moody, dark songs
Dessner even kept his working relationship with Swift a secret from his eight-year-old daughter, who’s a big Swiftie fan.
‘One day she asked me. She’s just like, Daddy, do you know Taylor Swift; it was the morning after we’d written one of these songs,’ he confessed.
In the end he had to dodge his little girl’s spot-on intuition and look into her eyes and deny knowing Swift.
‘I was so glad that we kept it [a secret] because I didn’t want to be the one that spilled the beans,’ Dessner said before adding, ‘I honored my confidentiality.’
Folklore is already a bonafide critical and commercial success, selling over 1.3 million copies in just 24 hours, as well as breaking a global streaming record on Spotify and Apple Music.
Smash: Folklore is already a critical and commercial success, selling over 1.3 million copies in just 24 hours, as well as breaking a global streaming record on Spotify and Apple Music