10 storytelling albums to listen to after Taylor Swift's 'Folklore'
Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” has enjoyed three weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart with no end in sight as of press time. Released on July 24, the Pennsylvania singer’s eighth album was composed in lockdown after part of her latest tour was postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.
A departure from Swift’s better-known songs about her exes, the 16 tracks of “Folklore” tell stories that sprang from her imagination. If the album has inspired you to seek more artists who rely on narrative in their songs, here are 10 albums that are heavy on the storytelling.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds — ‘Murder Ballads’ (1996)
Australian crooner Nick Cave has always owed much to a Western gothic aesthetic, but this album wedded him and his not-so-merry band to the genre. Aside from a darkly comic rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Death Is Not the End” featuring all the guest vocalists, each song tells a tale of murder most foul. Sawing from the subtle and macabre to the downright violent and occasionally hilarious, the album is a trip through several disturbed visions. Highlights include the beautifully lyrical “Where the Wild Roses Grow” featuring Kylie Minogue and the wildly untamed “Curse of Millhaven,” starring Cave’s deep bass as a 14-year-old girl.
