The project such a secret that even employees of her own label were unaware of its existence until mere hours before release, Taylor Swift's minimalistic Folklore was always going to be the biggest story of the week.

The eighth studio album from the American singer is, almost needless to say, the No.1 record this week. It is her fifth No.1 album and continues an unbroken run of chart-toppers which stretches back to the release of Red back in 2012. ...