Evermore blends alternative rock, indie folk and chamber pop styles, carried by fingerpicked guitars, somber pianos, lavish strings, and sparse percussion.

[7] On December 10, 2020, three days prior to her 31st birthday, Swift posted nine photos on Instagram, which together formed an image depicting the singer's back, with her hair in a braid and facing a forest.

After listening to the demo, the Dessner brothers felt that the song was very related to the National, and envisioned Matt Berninger (the band's lead vocalist) singing it, and Bryan Devendorf (the drummer) drumming it.

Dessner had been working on the composition of "Happiness" since 2019, thinking it would be a Big Red Machine song; Swift, however, admired its instrumentals and ended up finishing its lyrics, which was also the case with "Right Where You Left Me".

[34] Both albums share a common escapist concept,[30] but in contrast to Folklore's more introspective and romantic nature, Evermore is bolder, uninhibited,[23][34] playful,[35] and impressionistic,[24] delving extensively into Swift's ideas of adult love and pain.

[36] The songs generally ruminate[24] themes of forbidden love, romantic neglect, forgiveness,[28] marriage, and infidelity,[37] revolving around a set of distinctive characters, such as embattled couples, scorned friends, and complicated women.

[34] Slate also called it an anthology, emphasizing "her leap away from autobiography into songs that are either pure fictions or else lyrically symbolic in ways that don't act as romans à clef".

[32] The song channels a stream of consciousness,[42] in which the narrator empathizes with the subject[30] after their divorce,[48] contemplates the split, and apologizes for "losing track of the facts", and affirms happiness will be found again.

[28] "Ivy" is a folk song[21] with "elastic vocals"[42] and a "jaunty chorus",[36] documenting a married woman's infidelity,[34][30] over a ticking arrangement[34] of banjo, picked guitar,[21] trumpet, and Vernon's gentle harmonies.

[34] It is an alternative,[36] country,[13] folk rock,[20] and blues tune,[23] with hushed guitars, harmonica riff,[41] mandolin, piano,[36] lap steel,[24] and Mumford's backing vocals.

[21] It is an industrial folk song[20] characterized by an unusual 54 time signature,[21] and a "skittering" production of brass,[36] piano, to-and-fro strings,[22] electronic creaks, "clattering percussion",[21] and synth drums.

[16] The standard edition of the album ends with the title track—a piano ballad that progresses into a dramatic bridge after a tempo shift, where Swift is joined midway by Vernon's signature falsetto[23] in a call and response.

[50] The deluxe edition of Evermore includes two bonus tracks: "Right Where You Left Me" is a country and folk-pop song,[51] portraying the fate of a love "frozen in time", over twangy guitars.

[52][53] In contrast, "It's Time to Go" is about the narrator's knowledge of when to exit a relationship, such as a friendship, featuring tales of divorce and losing a dream career to an unfit individual; the song contains references to Swift's dispute over her masters.

[81] Describing Swift as an unrivaled songwriter, Brodie Lancaster of The Sydney Morning Herald found Evermore traveling deeper into the singer's fictitious narratives, and praised the depth and variety of its characters.

[23] In congruence, American Songwriter designated Folklore as the "archetypal older sister—a careful, yet hopeless romantic" whereas Evermore is the "bold, scrappy younger one", with the latter being a yuletide evolution of the former's sound.

[34] Maura Johnston, writing for Entertainment Weekly, asserted that Swift "levels up" on Evermore by taking musical risks, and dubbed the sister albums a career-high for the singer.

[41] Spin critic Bobby Olivier thought the "career-redefining" album finds Swift at her prime, joining "the pantheon of songwriters who consistently deliver despite unimaginable expectations".

[25] The Guardian's Alexis Petridis said Evermore furthers Swift's departure to alternative rock from mainstream pop, comparing it to her country-to-pop shift in Red (2012); he added that it proves her ability to switch genres easily.

[28] Patrick Ryan of USA Today gave plaudits to its mystical instrumentation and escapist lyrics, stressing that Evermore is not a vestige of Folklore, but rather a sister reinforcing Swift's strengths.

[87] Variety critic Chris Willman praised the album's subliminal production and Swift's agile vocals, and underlined its impressionist storytelling style that clicks only after multiple listens.

[21] In less favorable reviews, Kitty Empire of The Observer praised the album's emotion and themes, but felt Swift is "still a little muted on Evermore as she was on Folklore by pastel music that smears Vaseline on her otherwise keen lens.

"[88] Chris Richards of The Washington Post found the album overlong, felt some lyrics were sub-par for Swift's prowess, and rejected the notion of categorizing her 2020 works as indie.

[89] Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times felt that the album is Folklore's leftovers, and "simply repeats its trick", but named "Tolerate It", "Gold Rush", "Champagne Problems", "No Body, No Crime" and "Dorothea" as highlights.

[94] Available only via digital music and streaming platforms,[101] Republic Records reported over a million copies of Evermore sold in its first-week worldwide, marking Swift's eighth consecutive studio album to achieve it.

It placed eighth on Rolling Stone's best-sellers list, and tenth on MRC Data's best selling albums of 2020 with 283,000 sales; its sister record, Folklore, was the top seller of 2020.

Simultaneously, "Willow" also placed at number three on Irish Singles Chart, alongside tracks "Champagne Problems" and "No Body, No Crime" at sixth and eleventh spots, respectively, rising Swift's sum of top 50 hits to 38.

[69] The Guardian and Vox opined that Evermore and Folklore threw emphasis on Swift's work ethic, helped critics recognize her musicianship and view her as a dedicated singer, moving away from her popstar image in the mid-2010s.

[160][161] American singer-songwriter Christina Perri, regarding her 2022 single "Evergone", told Consequence that Evermore and Folklore influenced her to write heartfelt, melancholic songs as opposed to external expectations for upbeat music.

The park had sent a cease-and-desist letter to Swift on December 29, 2020, to which the singer's team declined to abide, replying "If anything, your client's website traffic has actually increased as a result of the release of Ms.