Taylor Swift Details Why ‘Folklore’ Album Was a ‘Challenge’ to Make

Every Time Taylor Swift Drops a Date in a Song And What Fans Think They Mean
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Taylor Swift is celebrating Folklore’s fourth anniversary.

Swift marked the milestone during her Eras Tour show in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday, July 24. The singer, 34, released her Grammy-winning pandemic album four years earlier. It combined folk and pop music, and an ethereal sound created with producers Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff.

"Because making an album is usually such a collaborative situation, you usually get lots of people together," Swift told concertgoers, according tov USA Today. "You usually get to play all these new songs for your friends or your band, and you get to be in the same room with the people that you're either writing with or producing with."

But with Folklore, Swift found unexpected obstacles. "I would sit in my guest bedroom and record the vocals and [Dessner and Antonoff] would be on the phone," she explained. "It was just like such a challenge for us as creators, but it was so fulfilling."

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Due to social distancing, Swift couldn’t call upon a glam squad to style her look for Folklore. She kept things low-key as a result. 

"Then came time to take some pictures for the album," she said onstage Wednesday. "You can't have hair or makeup. You can't have wardrobe. You have to just do it yourself. I called my friend [photographer Beth Garrabrant] who has some woods behind her house and was like, 'Can I take some pictures in your forest?' and she said, 'Yes.'"

Swift then "ordered all these nightgowns online and brought them and then did my own hair and makeup. It just makes me happy to look back on that period of time because we never made anything in that way before that and it was cool to know that we could and the way that you guys have embraced this album. And the storytelling on this album has just warmed my heart, and I'm just so appreciative of it."

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Wednesday’s concert was her second of two shows in the German city. At the Tuesday, July 23, performance, she happily performed in inclement weather. "I think a rain show only chooses a crowd that is completely worthy and ready to party with us all night in the rain," she declared.

The crowd cheered in response, confirming their willingness to spend upwards of three hours dancing to Swift's discography as rain poured into the Volksparkstadion arena.

"I thought so," Swift replied with a smile.

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