Taylor Swift has a new music video, and it’s just a small part of the best early Christmas present Swifties could ask for.
Less than five months after the surprise release of her eighth studio album folklore, the “August” singer dropped yet another musical bombshell with folklore‘s companion album evermore. The first single off evermore, “willow,” arrived with its very own music video, directed by Taylor herself. Check it out below.
The epic video premiered at 9 p.m. PT on Thursday, Dec. 10, the same time that the album was released. The mystical footage features a love story as Taylor dives into a river after seeing an unexpected reflection, participates in a sort of bonfire-type ritual and eventually ends up using a glowing thread to share a special final moment with her guy.
The male lead in the video is played by Taeok Lee, who has previously danced with Taylor on tour. Shortly after the video premiered, he posted an image from it to Instagram. “Surprise guys!” he wrote. “Thanks Tay for bringing me back again for this project.”
Shortly after the video debuted, Taylor tweeted that she appreciates the bond she continues to enjoy with her fans. “I have no idea what will come next,” she posted. “I have no idea about a lot of things these days and so I’ve clung to the one thing that keeps me connected to you all. That thing always has and always will be music.”
As fans were waiting for the video to begin, the Grammy winner answered fan questions on her YouTube page. “I wanted evermore to represent fall & winter while folklore represents spring & summer,” she replied to one fan. “I’ve always wanted to do a 2part anthology that’s a collective body of work & it just kind of happened naturally.”