Taylor Swift on Thursday announced the arrival of a second complete surprise album in five months, saying "we just couldn’t stop writing songs."
Swift told her 141 million followers on Instagram that the album called "Evermore" would be released at midnight ET (0500 GMT) on Thursday, along with a music video for the first single "Willow."
Swift described the 15-track album as a "sister record" to "Folklore," which she produced entirely during the coronavirus lockdowns and released unexpectedly in July.
"Folklore," a change of style that showed an indie folk sensibility, earned Swift some of the best reviews of her career as well as triggering six Grammy nominations, including for the coveted album of the year.
"To put it plainly, we just couldn't stop writing songs," Swift wrote on Thursday.
"I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found into your lives. So I just kept writing them," she added.
The singer-songwriter said the "Evermore" team again included alternative artist Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner, guitarist with indie rock band The National.
The mysterious William Bowery, who Swift last month revealed was a pseudonym for her British actor boyfriend Joe Alwyn, is also credited as a co-writer on the new album.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
