1989 (Taylor's version) by Taylor Swift
1989 (Taylor's Version) is the fourth re-recorded album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 27, 2023, via Republic Records. It is a re-recording of Swift's fifth studio album, 1989 (2014), and follows Speak Now (Taylor's Version) as her second album in 2023. Announced on August 9, 2023, at the final Los Angeles show of the Eras Tour, the album is a part of Swift's response to her 2019 masters dispute. The 21-track 1989 (Taylor's Version) contains re-recorded versions of 16 tracks from the deluxe edition of 1989 and five previously unreleased "From the Vault" tracks. Swift, Jack Antonoff and Christopher Rowe produced the majority of the album, with original collaborators Ryan Tedder, Noel Zancanella, Shellback and Imogen Heap returning to contribute again. Two songs—"Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" and "This Love (Taylor's Version)"—were released in advance on September 17, 2021, and May 6, 2022, respectively; both charted inside the top 50 of the US Billboard Hot 100. Upon release, 1989 (Taylor's Version) received widespread acclaim from music critics, with emphasis on the compositions, the vault tracks, and Swift's vocals. Some considered it her best album for combining sleek pop production with emotional depth. Background Swift performing on the 1989 World Tour (2015) Taylor Swift released her fifth studio album, 1989, on October 27, 2014, under Big Machine Records. Inspired by 1980s synth-pop, Swift conceived 1989 to recalibrate her artistry to pop after marketing her first four albums to country radio. The album was a critical and commercial success, receiving positive reviews from music critics and selling over 1.287 million copies within its first week in the United States. Three of its singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood"—reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Swift became the first artist to have three albums each sell one million copies within the first week, 1989 was the first album released in 2014 to exceed one million copies, and topped the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards (2016), the album won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, making Swift the first female artist to win the former two times. Swift released her next studio album, reputation (2017), under Big Machine, as per her recording contract, which expired in November 2018. She hence withdrew from Big Machine and signed a new deal with Republic Records, which secured her the rights to own the masters of any new music she would release. In 2019, American businessman Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine; the ownership of the masters to Swift's first six studio albums, including 1989, transferred to him. In August 2019, Swift denounced Braun's purchase and announced that she would re-record her first six studio albums so as to own their masters herself. Swift began the re-recording process in November 2020. Fearless (Taylor's Version), the first of her six re-recorded albums, was released on April 9, 2021, followed by Red (Taylor's Version) on November 12, 2021, and Speak Now (Taylor's Version) on July 7, 2023; all three achieved critical and commercial success, debuting atop the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Swift began teasing 1989 (Taylor's Version) with "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)", released on September 17, 2021, amid a viral TikTok trend involving the original 2014 recording of the song. "This Love (Taylor's Version)" was released on digital platforms on May 6, 2022. A snippet of "Bad Blood (Taylor's Version)" was featured in the 2022 animated film DC League of Super-Pets. The 2023 music video for "I Can See You" had several Easter eggs hinting at the re-record of 1989. A movie trailer for Migration featuring "Out Of The Woods (Taylor's Version)" premiered in theaters two weeks before the release of 1989 (Taylor's Version). Several hints to the imminent announcement of the album were noticed by fans while Swift performed at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood as part of her sixth concert tour, The Eras Tour. On August 9, 2023, at her final show at SoFi Stadium, several of Swift's outfits were changed to a blue color, and fans' LED wristbands flashed blue five times right before the acoustic section of the concert. Swift announced 1989 (Taylor's Version) as her next re-recorded album, set for release on October 27, 2023, exactly nine years after the original release of 1989. SoFi Stadium illuminated its roof with the album title following the announcement.
After re-recording her 2008 album <i>Fearless</i> as part of a sweeping effort to regain control of her master tapes—or at least create new ones—Taylor Swift presents <i>Red (Taylor’s Version)</i>, an expanded take on her 2012 blockbuster that features nine never-before-released songs written in the same era as the original.<br /> “Musically and lyrically, <i>Red</i> resembled a heartbroken person,” she wrote in a letter to fans. “It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end. Happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild, and tortured by memories past. Like trying on pieces of a new life, I went into the studio and experimented with different sounds and collaborators. And I’m not sure if it was pouring my thoughts into this album, hearing thousands of your voices sing the lyrics back to me in passionate solidarity, or if it was simply time, but something was healed along the way.”<br /> The hot-blooded breakup anthems you know and love are still there (“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble” are two), but the new, full collection paints an even richer portrait of heartbreak. She wrestles with change on “Nothing New”, an alt-rock duet with Phoebe Bridgers; contemplates fate on a wistful pop song produced by Max Martin and Shellback (“Message in a Bottle”); and gets the final, piercing word on “I Bet You Think About Me” featuring Chris Stapleton, penned after a high-profile breakup in 2011. Long-time fans will be especially glad to see an extended cut of “All Too Well”, the project’s emotional centrepiece. It features new production from hitmaker Jack Antonoff, but Swift’s original lyrical genius is still remarkable. “And you call me up again just to break me like a promise/So casually cruel in the name of being honest,” she sings. It’s the line she’s always said she’s most proud of from this album and era. Ten years on, it still cuts deep.
