Review: Taylor Swift 'Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions'

One of my daughters is very definitely a Swiftie, so I've heard lots of bits of Taylor Swift songs over the years, but never really paid very much attention. However, I recently watched the 'Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions' documentary, and enjoyed it far more than I'd expected to. The songs on this album were written and recorded during Covid restrictions in 2020, so both the mood and style are rather more introspective than her previous work - and the versions performed here are particularly pared-back and intimate, as they're performed by just three people*: Taylor Swift and her two co-writers Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff.

The songs have a very autobiographical feel about them - even when they're not directly about Swift's own life, she clearly has a very personal link with the lyrics she writes, and draws a lot on her own experiences. Sometimes this is just hinted at - in The Last Great American Dynasty there's the line in the refrain, "There goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen; "She had a marvelous time ruinin' everything". In the last refrain, this becomes 'There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen; I had a marvelous time ruinin' everything'. Other times it's more explicit - Mirrorball is clearly about celebrity, the need to perform and shine, and the public excitement at seeing famous people cracked and broken.

A number of previous Swift songs have seemed to me to have a certain defiance about them - she knows that she is both loved and derided, her life and relationships are matters for public discussion, speculation and judgement. Folklore, however, is free of this, and instead is more self-assured and at the same time vulnerable.

The film alternates songs from the album with Swift, Dessner, and Antonoff talking about them, and about their inspiration, meanings, interpretation. All three share generously their personal stories around the songs, and these beautifully enhance the tracks when they are then played.

My favourite aspect of the film staging was the informality of it: all three musicians are very dressed down, with Swift in an oversized shirt dress, with her hair loosely styled and (apparently) minimal makeup. This beautifully complements the intimate and simple style of the performance and recording, and is poles apart from any other 'concert' recording.

All in all, I truly enjoyed this and for the first time ever, have put a Taylor Swift album on to play while I'm working!

*OK, 4, as Justin Vernon also sings on 'Exile', via remote link.