Three new studio albums in 16 months? Taylor Swift is clearly in the midst of a huge creative burst at the moment, but – as far as the critics are concerned – the quantity hasn’t compromised the quality.

evermore, which came out overnight, has already had enough glowing reviews published to earn it an aggregated score of 84/100 on Metacritic.

For comparison, that’s marginally behind Folklore – but ahead of all her other releases:

Taylor Swift albums by Metacritic score:
folklore (2020) – 88
evermore (2020) – 84
Lover (2019) – 79
Red (2012) – 77
Speak Now (2010) – 77
1989 (2014) – 76
Fearless (2008) – 73
Reputation (2017) – 71
Taylor Swift (2006) – unrated

Given that it’s been less than a day, it seems inevitable that the score for evermore will be adjusted as more reviews are taken into account – but they’re certainly all positive-to-glowing so far.

NME awarded a full five stars, saying: “The most striking difference between folklore and evermore [is] that, occasionally, the new album sees her reaching for fizzing pop heights again. Both ‘Gold Rush’ (co-written with [Jack] Antonoff) and ‘Long Story Short’ add a layer of 1989-style gloss to the proceedings… Both tracks feel like they could explode into a banging, stadium-ready chorus if placed into the hands of pop master-producer Max Martin, but instead pull it back at the last minute and favour subtlety.”

Four-and-a-half stars are awarded by Rolling Stone, reasoning: “Granted, none of these stories are executed with more or less finesse than the ones on folklore. Whether by design, or simply by which songs she decided to put on which album, evermore’s most revelatory moments come when Swift turns the mythmaking back around to herself.”

The Sydney Morning Herald goes for the full five stars, saying: “While keeping folklore’s circle of collaborators close, Swift has expanded the minimal sonic palette they established on evermore, while sharpening her narrative focus and proving herself a peerless songwriter and storyteller.”

In a behind-a-paywall critique, The Times gives four stars; the same score given by The Irish Times. The latter says: “evermore is essentially folklore Part Two, and the pace never really rises above mildly brisk. (The gothic hoedown Ivy is as jaunty as it gets.) Still, it is extraordinary to think that merely two and a bit years ago Taylor Swift was on stage at Croke Park surrounded by inflatable snakes and singing Look What You Made Me Do (and was fantastic).”

The Independent goes for four stars as well, saying: “Swift has said she has no idea where she’s going from here. She doesn’t need to. But it’s a Christmas treat to hear her enjoy creating a whole magical, mystical world away from the spotlight. No reinvention required.”

The Guardian agree, but single out Coney Island and No Body No Crime as the weak links. They conclude: “Not everything here works, but taken together folklore and evermore make a convincing case for Swift’s ability to shift shape and for her songs’ ability to travel between genres: as lockdown overachievements go, it’s pretty impressive.”

Again behind a paywall, The Daily Telegraph opts for four stars too.

Finally, The Line Of Best Fit awards an 8/10 mark, remarking: “As well as sounding incredible as a whole (not all of Swift’s previous albums have hung together as well as this one) these songs also have the air of a victory lap about them, as though Taylor’s basking in the glow of this new cottagecore indie-pop hybrid she’s found(ed).”

evermore is, obviously, out now.