Folklore, which contains Taylor Swift’s “August,” is her eighth studio album.
Swift surprise-released Folklore on July 24, 2020, through Republic Records. It followed Lover, her seventh studio album, and preceded Evermore, which became her ninth studio album later in 2020.
The album was conceived during quarantine amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Swift worked remotely with Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, recording her vocals in a Los Angeles home studio while collaborators worked from studios in New York and the Hudson Valley.
Folklore marked a shift toward fictional characters, imagined stories, and indie-leaning musical styles. “August” belongs to the album’s linked narrative about James, Betty, and the female narrator of the song. Because Swift released Evermore only months later, some listeners mistakenly count Folklore as her ninth album; chronologically, it is the eighth.