Today, Thursday 23 July, Taylor Swift has just announced she is to release a surprise eighth studio album titled Folklore, at midnight Eastern Standard Time (EST), which would equal to 5 a.m. in the UK. While we impatiently await the drop, here’s everything we know so far about Folklore.

According to what Taylor Swift announced on social media, the album’s standard edition will include 16 tracks, which were written and recorded in isolation during the COVID-19 lockdown. The physical deluxe edition will include a bonus track called ‘The lakes’.

https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1286272156607840264

On Instagram, the singer explained: “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.”

Folklore is made up of “songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into,” Swift revealed, and sees her collaborate with “musical heroes” including The National’s Aaron Dessner, Bon Iver and Jack Antonoff.

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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 🤗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. I wrote and recorded this music in isolation but got to collaborate with some musical heroes of mine; @aarondessner (who has co-written or produced 11 of the 16 songs), @boniver (who co-wrote and was kind enough to sing on one with me), William Bowery (who co-wrote two with me) and @jackantonoff (who is basically musical family at this point). Engineered by Laura Sisk and Jon Low, mixed by Serban Ghenea & Jon Low. The album photos were shot by the amazing @bethgarrabrant. 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. 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. Love you guys so much ♥️

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Jul 23, 2020 at 5:00am PDT

Speaking about the new surprise album’s deluxe editions, Swift said: “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.” Exciting!

The music video for ‘Cardigan’ will premiere tonight, which Swift wrote and directed. The singer wrote on Instagram: “A million thank yous to my brilliant, bad ass video team – cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, producer Jil Hardin, executive producer Rebecca Skinner, AD Joe ‘Oz’ Osbourne, editor Chancler Haynes, special effects wizards David Lebensfeld & Grant Miller, and set designer Ethan Tobman.”

She also added that the entire shoot was overseen by a medical inspector, that everyone wore masks, stayed away from each other, and that she even did her own hair, makeup, and styling.

As a Grammy-winning songwriter, Swift pretty much produced and co-wrote most of the album alongside Aaron Dessner of The National. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon will also appear on the record alongside Taylor Swift’s regular collaborator, Jack Antonoff.

On Twitter, Aaron Dessner listed further collaborators on Folklore, including The National’s Bryce Dessner and Bryan Devendorf and many of the band’s frequent collaborators such as Ben Lanz, Thomas Bartlett and Kyle Resnick.

Dessner also said that Swift had approached him at the end of April about writing together. He then shared sketches that he had been working on with Swift, who sent him “a fully written version” of a song a few hours later. “The momentum never really stopped. I’ve rarely been so inspired by someone and it’s still hard to believe this happened,” he tweeted.

Folklore comes after Swift’s 2019 album, Lover. The singer was due to headline Glastonbury 2020 before it was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Swift promoted it today on her Instagram stories, before the launch of the album, fans can enjoy a retro, Folklore-inspired face filter on Instagram.

Although we can’t say for sure why Swift decided to drop her new album right now, it doesn’t seem to be the only album we’ll receive this week. Swift’s well-known rival Kanye West has also said he will release his new record Donda: With Child on Friday.