Joe Alwyn says writing songs with Taylor Swift for 'Folklore' album was 'perk of lockdown'

Taylor Swift's 2020 album Folklore received praises from the audience as well as a Grammy in the category of Album of the Year. While fans appreciated Swift getting close and personal with her new album, they also noticed an unfamiliar name, William Bowery, in the credits piquing their curiosity. Many speculated that the artist, who had no background or internet presence, could be a new artist while some also believed it could be Swift's brother Austin.

To everyone's surprise, Swift revealed in her Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions film that the mysterious artist who co-wrote Exile and Betty in Folklore is none other than her boyfriend of over five years Joe Alwyn. In a recent interview, the 'Conversations with Friends' actor opened up about the process of writing music with his partner and how the pandemic resulted in a beautiful creation that was appreciated by the Recording Academy. 

Joe Alwyn talks about writing songs with Taylor Swift

In an interview with GQ U.K via EW, the 31-year-old actor revealed that he was messing around on the piano during the lockdown which resulted in the creation of the melody and first verse of the track Exile. Alwyn had an impressive background in music as he revealed that he was in a band called 'Anger Management' during his school years. He described creating music with Swift as 'the most accidental thing' that took place in lockdown. 

He told the outlet, ''It wasn't like, 'It's three o'clock, it's time to write a song!' It was just messing around on a piano and singing badly and being overheard and then thinking, you know, what if we tried to get to the end of it together?'' Joking about his singing skills, Alwyn stated 'there is probably a voice note somewhere that should be burned.'

He also recalled the process of working with Swift and then witnessing their song being produced by Aaron Dessner with vocals of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon being featured on the track. He described the entire process as 'surreal'. He also added, ''It was a perk of lockdown'' Moreover, the actor revealed that this was it for his music career for the time being and concluded, ''It was fun to do it together, and I was proud of it. It was nice getting such a positive reception."

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