Is Taylor Swift Releasing ‘August’ as a Single in December?
It’s been several months since Taylor Swift dropped her surprise album, Folklore. In late 2020, the singer-songwriter has turned her focus to re-recording her first five records. But her fans (known as Swifties) have reason to believe that there could be another single coming — though “August” in December sounds a little strange.
Taylor Swift released ‘Folklore’ in July 2020
Swift delighted her fans with a new album in July 2020, less than a year after her 2019 release Lover. “Most of the things I had planned this summer didn’t end up happening, but there is something I hadn’t planned on that DID happen. And that thing is my 8th studio album,” she wrote on Twitter.
When Swift dropped Folklore, she also released its first single (and accompanying music video), “Cardigan.” Other songs “Betty” and “Exile,” were sent out to country and alternative radio, respectively. But that second music video and mainstream single remained absent.
‘August’ was featured in the trailer for ‘Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions’
Because of when she released Folklore, the timing couldn’t have been better to make “August” a single. However, Swift spent the month occupied with other things, including releasing Folklore thematic chapters (and taking on Donald Trump). And, as it turns out, she was preparing for another big release.
In November 2020, Swift announced her latest project: A concert film on Disney+. Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions marked the first time that she and her Folklore collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner met in person and performed the songs they wrote together. The trailer for it featured snippets of “Cardigan” and “August.”
Swift and co-writer Jack Antonoff tweeted about ‘August’
In Folklore: The Long Pond Sessions, Swift spoke about the song and its relation to the other tracks in the Teenage Love Triangle. “‘August was obviously about the girl that James had this summer with, right? So she seems like she’s a bad girl, but… she’s really a sensitive person who really fell for him,” she said of the girl she calls “Augusta or Augustine.”
After the movie debuted on Disney+, Swift did something she typically only does on release dates: Interacted with fans on Twitter. She liked several tweets and even responded to a few. After one person pointed out Antonoff’s expression while performing “August,” he tweeted, “i like to play august.” Swift retweeted him, adding, “retweet 4ever.”
Spotify featured ‘August’ in an end-of-the-year ad
As all Swifties know, the artist loves Easter eggs. Before her re-recorded hit “Love Story” debuted in an ad written by Ryan Reynolds, she mentioned the song in interviews. So it stands to reason that she could be doing the same with “August,” given the number of times it’s come up.
On December 2, 2020, Spotify released an ad for its 2020 Wrapped feature. The person in the video praises “August” as the song plays. And at the very end, a post-it note reading “It Still Feels Like March” covers early dates in December — including December 4. Put “retweet 4ever,” “August,” and “December 4” together, and what do you get?
