Taylor Swift is about to release a surprise new album

Taylor Swift
(Image credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME)

Look what coronavirus quarantine made Taylor Swift do: put together a surprise new album.

Swift on Thursday revealed that at midnight, she's releasing a previously-unannounced eighth studio album that she wrote and recorded "in isolation" called Folklore.

"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," Swift wrote. "And that thing is my eighth studio album, Folklore. ... Tonight at midnight I'll be releasing my entire brand new album of songs I've poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into."

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Swift, who just released her seventh studio album Lover in 2019, said that although the music was recorded in isolation, she still managed to collaborate with Aaron Dessner, Bon Iver, William Bowery, and Jack Antonoff. In terms of the release, she described how she might have previously "overthought" when to put the album out, but "the times we're living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed." The album's standard edition will have 16 songs, and a music video for the song "Cardigan," which she directed, is coming out tonight.

Earlier this year, Swift canceled all of her scheduled 2020 performances due to the coronavirus pandemic including her Lover Fest, at the time telling fans, "I'll see you on stage as soon as I can."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.