1989 (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

Fresh (ish) and new (ish?) to the music scene of 2023; 1989 (Taylor’s version). With the 2014 original being one of the most defining and notable pop albums of both it’s decade and Swifts career, launching her swiftly out of those country cowboy boots into a shining, dance-pop star, this was arguably the most awaited of the 6 re-recorded albums she is set to reclaim.

1989, at it’s time of release, was a complete genre and sonance shift for the 25-year-old singer, which meant scepticism of her talent and success in the already star-studded ‘pop-girl’ category was rife. Fortunately for Swift, and the realm of pop music itself, doubts (and many, many records) were broken tenfold when her New York, high-life dance party sound hit the shelves, being home to some of the most acclaimed pop hits to date, ‘Blank Space’, ‘Shake It Off’, ‘Bad Blood’. Reminiscent of this, it came as no surprise that 9 years later the re-recorded version of such a globally classic record delivered even more energy and rapture with these pre-loved tracks. Released alongside a handful of unearthed previously written tracks to transport us back to the essence of 2014, almost like you’re back listening on your old iPod touch.

The record kicks off with a light crescendo to a drum pad/hand clap dance beat that is ‘Welcome To New York’, verbatim inviting us into the new, euphoric world Swift encompasses. A large inspiration for the original album was 80’s synth music, hence why the repeatedly upbeat drum pad beats combined with a synth melody act as a pop motif throughout, appearing also in ‘All You Had To Do Was Stay’ & ‘I Wish You Would'. A standout interesting choice is the presence of this drum beat & synth alliance featured even in the mellower, striped down songs, such as in the build up to the chorus’ of ‘This Love’ and ‘You Are In Love’. Despite the lyrics all round being just as intricate and poetic as her prior discography, Swift clearly prioritizes producing a sonic cohesion to firm this album as an explicit pop project, which is what makes this motif subtly planted in more or less every track a hidden treasure and an excellent producing move from Taylor and her collaborators for the overall album experience.

Many of the tracks are reborn with a next level of grit and guts; ‘Out Of The Woods’ features a slightly harsher instrumental paired with elevated overlapped vocals, particularly on the bridge, together with ‘Shake It Off ’s spoken bridge, build up to final chorus and ending accompanied adlibs being evidently more vocally emotive and playful. Some tracks lack in strength during parts of the tune, most vividly in Track 3, ‘Style’. As one of the best-selling singles from 1989 and a personal favourite of my own, hopes were high for this particular track, yet the vocal performance in the chorus, although undoubtedly matured, doesn’t capture the same undeniable spark as the 2014 version. I predict over time this will settle and become just as entrancing as its predecessor, but according to the majority of Twitter an TikTok users, the initial reaction was underwhelming. On the topic of critiques, amongst many improvements on this re-record (vocals, layering, production) diction is not one of them… ‘got a lot of Starbucks lovers’? Perhaps it was an ironic pop-cultural choice to not correct one of the most globally misheard lyrics of all time.

As present on the initial record, a stand-out track, brought to us on a deluxe edition, features the return of one of the greatest himself, Mr. Kendrick Lamar for a ‘Bad Blood’ remix. He re-emerges with the same bars but a new level of energy, collaborating on an already powerhouse pop anthem to kick it to a higher notch of heat.

The 5 new tracks released ‘from the vault’, in the words of Swift, provide us with new viewpoints of her 25-year old self’s journey, once again maintaining the drum pads even on tracks with slower tempos like ”Slut!” and ‘Say Don’t Go’ before building into a classic 1989 echoey, fast paced chorus. A lower vocal range for Swift is prominent in the verses of these final few tracks. The closing song, and seemingly the most popular amongst fans, ‘Is It Over Now?’, juxtaposes a pulsating dance beat under some authentic, accusatory lyrics of a past failed relationship. The realness of lines such as ‘…if she’s got blue eyes I would surmise that you’ll probably date her’ left fans resonating with the raw audacity behind it, and theorising as to which (retired boyband member) ex-boyfriend these lyrics targeted. Overall, this unflinching track draws close to a very well-organised record dotted with a collection of some of pop music’s most cherished entries and under the radar (if that’s possible for Taylor Swift) pop tracks. The cohesion and dedication to this pop album as an entire experience is what helps this record to stand-out as a shining light amongst Swift’s lengthy discography.