Taylor Swift released her ninth studio album, "Evermore," on Friday.
Just like with "Folklore" in July, Swift surprised fans by announcing its release just one day in advance.
"To put it plainly, we just couldn't stop writing songs," Swift explained on social media. "To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in."
To create the "imaginary/not imaginary tales" of "Evermore," the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter reunited with "Folklore" producers Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, as well as cowriters William Bowery (which is the pseudonym used by her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn) and Justin Vernon (also known as Bon Iver).
Other featured artists include the sister trio HAIM, Swift's longtime friends, and Dessner's band The National, which also includes Matt Berninger, Scott Devendorf, and Bryan Devendorf.
Insider's music team (reporter Callie Ahlgrim and celebrity and music editor Courteney Larocca) listened to the new album on our own, jotting down our initial thoughts track by track.
Overall, we thought it was a lovely companion to "Folklore," though it didn't quite measure up to its older sister. The album started strong with most of its best songs at the top, but it began to fade halfway through and lost some emotional ground.
Here is what we thought of each song on "Evermore" upon first listen. (Skip to the end to see the only songs worth listening to and the album's final score.)