I really wish I liked the melody of Tolerate It more because the lyrics are great. I just really, really don't like that chorus. She has a song on every one of her albums that just hits the wrong note with me
I always forget that he did this. Or says he did it...I still don't really buy 22, A Million as a summer record.
since I'm the one who said unintentional, I kinda disagree with this - but that's mostly because of my own word choice. When I say this album feels less intentional, I mean that about the details and the way the lyrics and music feed into one another. folklore felt mapped out in a way that evermore doesn't (to me), but I also think this serves as a device of sorts. There's more chaos and overt grief in evermore, which is inherently uncontrolled. The relationship between the lyrics and the music feels noticeably different to me between the two albums, and the word that seemed to best capture that difference was "intentional". It's totally possible I'm not using the ideal word to describe what I'm saying, but I have major brain worms these days (and that's not a joke even though I joke about it a lot). (Then again, it's important to note that I feel like these two are two thirds of a whole so I guess we'll see what happens if there IS a third album) in short, I truly do not believe I feel this way solely because of the order in which the albums came out or their proximity to one another although it is a fair thing to assume
for me the chorus is obviously a thing of unearthly beauty, so there is a pretty big gap between our experiences lol
I just...I don't know how to describe songs like this. There's a certain melody that I think it's going to go in every time, and then it doesn't and it throws me off? Does that make sense? EDIT: Like obviously there's some songs where the artist zigs when you think they'll zag and you're like "Oh shit that's a really cool change"...I don't get that with Tolerate It "This is Me Trying" has the same sort of thing in it, but I like that song now so maybe it'll grow on me.
This takes are wild! I really wish I was that hype about it haha. Folklore I think might be her best album at this point. I'd rank this 5-6, maybe. Consistently good, never bad but rarely "great", IMO.
It's winter to me, but I could go for late autumn. I just remember that one never really clicking for me until there was snow on the ground, and then falling in love with it.
I'm pretty sure I like both these albums combined more than any other album. 1989 is the only one that would come close for me.
I can very much see that. I'd certainly describe it as a cold record, but I spent soooooo much time listening to it in September/October that it's hard to bypass the connection. Plus, if you have to choose one, For Emma was literally made in a cabin in the woods.
Oh yeah, For Emma is definitely more of a winter record (and one of the ultimate winter records ever made).
I find I differ pretty widely from this site on what constitutes “not fitting” with a record. To me “No Body” fits with her more forceful storytelling in this cycle, has a lot of production similarities to the rest of the songs, and is excellently used in the sequencing between songs that would be too similar in intensity and tone if they were back-to-back.
agreed feel like this record and folklore are trying to revive some late-'90s lilith fair sonics and "no body" is right in that pocket
I think we're talking about different things, I understand the time signature on closure is probably the most non-traditional she's made, but the song still stays in that same lane the full way through, like musically it's almost a loop of the music. Which again, is totally fine, but I really like when her songs take you on more of a journey. I keep mentioning august because it's top of mind, but that song goes so many different places within the track and it all fits together in such a cool way.
Can't say enough about how her lack of positioning for radio helped give these songs a different feel. There's a few hooks, because she can't help herself, but she's going all in on those writerly flourishes from folklore and it shows. We've discussed how "happiness" is a wonderful song because of how complex the central sentiment is, but it's also present in her word selection and the narrative tone of voice. I think my favorite scene-setting line is the in media res of "and the tennis court was covered with some tent-like thing..." which doesn't feel like something she's done before.
I wish I could find the words I’m feeling to describe this album. It’s very good. It’s also not connecting with me on any level close to an album of hers has since Fearless. As such, I’m nowhere close to being able to loosely tuck songs into tiers. Tolerate It would probably be my #1, though.