âThe only thing she said to me initially was that she didnât want me to worry about anything that sheâd done before and that I should just be myself â just inhabit the emotional space that youâre feeling or your musical and emotional space. And so I really didnât endeavor to become Max Martin or whoever. I was just sort of being myself. And so was she. I think sheâs incredibly versatile, obviously. A lot of these songs, they sound to me as though she could have been doing this all along in her career, this kind of sound or something. Itâs not at all unnatural. In fact, it sounds incredible. This is all complete. Itâs finished. It feels produced, but I think it will feel fairly organic or raw compared to past things. At some point, Taylor did articulate her vision for folklore. Other songs came after that. I was very inspired by her and what sheâd been writing, and then I wrote more music, and she responded to that. We just started to push aheadâŠSheâs just an absolutely brilliant artist. Allowing her to flourish like that, there was no pressure. She wasnât trying to make something for anyone else except for herself in this time. I donât think even her label knew. We were just working. Thatâs maybe the liberating. When you put something in the pipeline of the music industry and it takes months of prep â not to take anything away from that because itâs important, especially if youâre coming up and you donât have an audience. But once you do, I think itâs nice to play around the form of it. The world is a different place right now, and nobody really knows. All the rules are being rewritten. Live music is not happening. And in a way, itâs nice to make something and just put it out because people are stuck at home and being able to hear something. This will be a really positive gift for her fans.â
â Aaron Dessner on folklore (x)
