Review Summary: Faster than the wind, passionate as sin
1989 was the only album of any genre to go platinum last year. What this says about Swift is that not only is she one of the best hit-makers in mainstream music where the single is of utmost importance, but her songwriting finesse is so great that she's able to craft entire albums that sell equally as well. And generally, they live up to the hype.
Well, aside from
Red of course. There were a lot of great songs on that album, but as a whole it flopped. It largely eschewed her traditional country epics in favour of pretty lame pop songs equipped with only moderately catchy choruses that desperately tried to save a boring album that sorely lacked Swift's traditional spark.
Luckily, her comeback album has no such faults. Lead single 'Shake It Off' should prove as much, rocking blaring horns and gorgeous harmonies in Swift's increasingly zany vocals. The crunchy beat of this track makes it the unquestionable hit of the record, rivalled only by follow up 'Blank Space', an anthemic pop behemoth that serves as the second helping of a delicious meal of self-deprecation (that will undoubtedly be misinterpreted) alongside its witty music videos.
Elsewhere, things get a bit fluttery and synth-led. 'Wildest Dreams' is a sprawling soundscape that sounds almost nothing like T. Swift until the chorus, evoking
Ultraviolence-era Lana Del Rey better than the woman herself. She's never been afraid to borrow from other artists, and the distinctly Chvrches sounding 'Out of the Woods' is evidence enough of this. The typical 'end of relationship' songs she gets mocked for making so often seem to have driven her towards even more lyrical diversity. Far from making 'girl-power' Charli XCX-type songs she paints pictures of relationships (and the breakups that follow) that seem very down to earth with the situation and avoid melodrama.
The production on this album is magnificent, with the contributors serving almost as doting admirers, giving her voice a funky but morose backdrop on 'Style' (which probably steals the title for most infectious hook on the record) and ramming others like 'How You Get the Girl' (which nearly edges it out) choc-full of beautiful acoustic guitars and elaborate percussion. This latter track sound a lot like something from
Red in that it spins tales of teenage romance in much the same way, with two lovers caught between making themselves and their partner happy. This is probably the only song here that sounds like it could have been a leftover from a past record, but that makes it no less incredible in its execution.
Though it's been the thing that has saved much of her music from blandness in the past, the chorus actually plays a fairly small part here. For example, 'Welcome to New York' features a rather unexciting one that only drags it down as an effective opener. The lack of country on the song isn't that much of a shock, but hearing something as mundane as this as your first taste of
1989 makes the initial change a little more disappointing. However, the fact that nothing here sounds like 'Love Story' or 'Mine' only shows quite how diverse a musician Swift is.
As a whole, the evolution of an artists talents can never be a bad thing. Sure, there's less memorable tracks here, but I don't think Swift has ever made such a strong set of of tracks as
1989. In a year where pop music of this ilk has been almost entirely absent, I welcome this change just as much as Swift welcomes us to to her world on
1989.
