Hey, I’m Taylor, and the last year of my professional and personal life moved swiftly. It felt like four years’ worth of events happened in 12 months. There were high highs and low lows. The material would make for an epic, well-rounded album. If I was at all musically talented, I would craft it to resemble “Folklore,” Taylor Swift’s piece de resistance, in my opinion. Here are a few key tracks:

The single: Leave

My sixth trip around the sun with Obsidian featured a maternity leave – 10 weeks away caring for the newest member of our family, Blair. This track would be an absolute banger, the song of the summer to mark the addition of another Cancer to our home. In the style of “The Last Great American Dynasty,” this upbeat track wouldn’t sacrifice story quality for pop appeal. 

The fan favorite: Shift

If your favorite song on Folklore isn’t “August,” then you’re lying. The quintessential classic track in the album of my last year would resemble my largest professional trend, shifting. The world is changing, business is changing, and my personal life completely changed. I put a lot of effort over the last year into coming up with new ideas, adjusting my habits and meeting needs in different ways. This would be a mellow track with a rocking bridge, mirroring how I tried to remain calm but did experience a few moments of frustration as I worked to fill it out.

The B-side: Reflect

I eluded to my sun sign earlier – as a Cancer, I am an emotional and sentimental gal who spends a lot of time reflecting. Like Swift’s track “Seven,” the B-side in the album of my last year would be a look-back ballad. The last 12 months have included major milestones for me personally and professionally, and they have forced me to think about how much things have changed since I started at Obsidian six years ago. A fifth wedding anniversary, a baby, a pandemic and loss will make you do that. You might cry as you listen, I’ll definitely cry as I listen. We’ll both say that things are better – though arguably more challenging – now than they were then.