{"id":44228,"date":"2015-08-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/1989\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:20:10","slug":"1989","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/1989\/","title":{"rendered":"1989"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my review<\/a> of Taylor Swift\u2019s last album, 2012\u2019s Red \u2013 <\/i>which found the starlet at a crossroads between pop and country, resulting in a halfhearted amalgamation of the two \u2013 I wrote that I hoped her next release would be \u201cmore cohesive but no less honest.\u201d Well, Swift must be reading The Vault because her latest effort is (mostly) that. She\u2019s shed her country roots for a full-on pop album, bringing back Max Martin and Shellback on production for an effort that\u2019s far more stylized than her previous work but more mature as well. Where Red <\/i>was a growing pains record, 1989 <\/i>finds Swift asserting her artistic vision more confidently, rejuvenating the \u201880s pop landscape as well as her own persona as a serial ladykiller.<\/p>\n

Indeed, one of the best songs to be found here upends Swift\u2019s reputation for dating her way through Hollywood, toying prettily with the media\u2019s perception of her: \u201c Got a long list of ex-lovers \/ They\u2019ll tell you I\u2019m insane \/ But I got a blank space, baby \/ And I\u2019ll write your name,\u201d she purrs on \u201cBlank Space\u201d over a minimalist electropop backdrop. Though this track has been wildly overplayed, it\u2019s a welcome intro to the latest chapter in the evolution of Swift\u2019s sound (and check out the equally spunky video). <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, lead single \u201cShake It Off\u201d is simmering with a similar energy: \u201cI go on too many dates \/ But I can\u2019t make them stay \/ At least that\u2019s what people say\u201d is one of her many kiss-off lines to the media as horns and saxophone swirl around her. It\u2019s a bit on the nose, as T. Swift always is, but it\u2019s empowering to see her taking in the critics and brushing them off. Where much of her previous lyricism was wildly specific, creating a game of spot-the-famous-ex for fans, she\u2019s gone broader on a lot of these tracks, trading in specificity for atmosphere.<\/p>\n

And largely, it works. Skipping past opener \u201cWelcome To New York\u201d \u2013 which I do on every listen because it\u2019s ridiculously, buoyantly cheesy \u2013 the rest of the disc draws you in with its shiny, well-produced, and endlessly listenable pop. There are the silky grooves and shimmering backbeats of \u201cStyle\u201d (a not so sneaky ode to Harry Styles), chilly synths blended with a driving, almost anxiously repeated chorus on \u201cOut Of The Woods\u201d (co-written and produced by Jack Antanoff of Bleachers and Fun fame), and dreamy, breathless ambiance on \u201cWildest Dreams.\u201d And despite the questionable origins of \u201cBad Blood,\u201d which is allegedly meant to castigate Katy Perry with lines like \u201cDid you think we\u2019d be fine? Still got scars on my back from your knife,\u201d it\u2019s a remarkably catchy tune. <\/p>\n

But where Swift shows real growth is on a track tucked near the end of the album, \u201cClean,\u201d which she describes as being the last song written for the album. Downbeat and spare, featuring just her tender vocals swathed airy harmonies, the lyrics (written alongside Imogen Heap) liken the need to let go of a destructive love to addiction, ending with the line \u201cI think I\u2019m finally clean.\u201d While Swift has spent her entire career considering love, what\u2019s notable about 1989 <\/i>is the inclusion of material that toys with and sometimes even moves beyond that preoccupation. <\/p>\n

Overall, 1989 <\/i>is inventive and enjoyable, full of seamless pop and the sense that Swift is growing and becoming more confident as an artist. She\u2019s claimed the pop mantle and she wears it well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":32467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8647],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-44228","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-taylor-swift","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44228"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}