Dream pop is one of the musical genres associated with Taylor Swift’s “august,” alongside guitar pop and soft rock.
The song’s sound is built around hazy production, prominent reverb, strings, and keyboards. Those elements give it a floating, atmospheric quality that distinguishes it from the brighter country-pop and mainstream pop styles associated with some of Swift’s earlier work.
Genre labels can overlap, and critics have used several descriptions for the track. Dream pop is the clearest single answer when the question asks for the genre listed with guitar pop and soft rock. “august” is also commonly discussed as a ballad, but ballad describes its song form or mood rather than replacing the genre classification.