How does she find the time? Within the year since she released her last album, Midnights, Taylor Swift has put out a re-recorded version of her 2010 album Speak Now featuring 22 songs, performed for over three hours every night on the US leg of her Eras world tour, made a film of the show that can currently be seen in cinemas by those who can’t wait for next summer’s UK dates, and embarked upon a new romance that seems to involve attending a lot of American football matches and answering to the portmanteau “Traylor”.
So as she releases the new version of her nine-year old album 1989, the fourth of six that she is completely remaking as an extraordinarily elaborate snub to the investment company that bought her original master recordings without her blessing in 2019, she may find her fans exhausted and penniless.
They just made the Eras film the highest-grossing concert movie ever and turned her 2019 song Cruel Summer, which is a highlight of the show, into her 10th US number one. Are they really going to head straight back to her store to spend 35 quid on 1989 in tangerine, aquamarine, “rose garden pink” or “sunrise boulevard yellow” double vinyl?
Of course they are. Swift is a master at convincing her followers to cough up while feeling uniquely blessed by her generosity.
The 1989 album already went five times platinum in the UK, so no doubt you’ve heard it and are already aware that it marks the moment she jumped fully from country into sophisticated electronic pop, using mildly retro synth sounds to avoid contemporary trends.
Reviewers have been permitted to hear two of the re-recorded songs, Wildest Dreams and This Love, which are faithful enough to ensure no one is at risk of disliking the new versions, plus the five previously unreleased “Vault” tracks. Slut! avoids the excitability of its title by being a dreamy electronic ballad that would fit nicely on Midnights.
Say Don’t Go also feels understated until a dynamic chorus cracks the song wide open. Now That We Don’t Talk is the melodic and lyrical highlight, finding her smoothly taking down an ex after he’s gone: “I don’t have to pretend I like acid rock/Or that I’d like to be on a mega-yacht/With important men who think important thoughts.”
Suburban Legend matches the nostalgic feel of its Eighties synths with lyrics recalling a high school crush, while Is It Over Now? sounds big and bright and like yet another potential hit. If she can leave stuff like this lying around for years, it’s no wonder she’s so far ahead of everyone else.
