Which Taylor Swift collaborator first sent her the instrumental for “august”?

Jack Antonoff first sent Taylor Swift the instrumental for “august.”

The production began with Antonoff creating the musical foundation before Swift added the lyrics. According to the song’s documented background, she wrote the words quickly after receiving the instrumental, describing the process as intuitive rather than heavily planned.

That origin helps explain the track’s balance between atmosphere and narrative. The instrumental supplies a broad, reverberant soundscape, while Swift’s lyrics focus on a fleeting summer relationship and the narrator’s realization that the romance was never fully hers.

Antonoff’s role can be mixed up with Aaron Dessner’s because Dessner was another major Folklore collaborator. Dessner contributed substantially to the album and joined Swift and Antonoff for the 2021 Grammy performance, but Antonoff is the collaborator identified with creating and sending the initial “august” instrumental.