Scarlett Tynan-Morris reviews Taylor Swift’s newly released version of her album 1989

Within days of it being released, Taylor Swift’s remake of her 2014 hit album 1989 became the UKs fastest-selling record of 2023.

After her back catalogue was sold against her wishes, Swift made the bold decision to rerecord her older music to regain ownership of it. Her latest release, titled 1989 named after the year Swift was born, is the fourth album of six that she has remastered. The first was Fearless which she released in April 2021, followed by Red in November 2021, then Speak Now in July this year. There’s still two more albums to go – her debut album Taylor Swift and Reputation.

Released on 27 October, 1989 not only features Swift’s biggest chart topping single, the catchy and motivational Shake It Off, it also boasts the hits Style (rumoured to be inspired by her ill-fated relationship with fellow pop star Harry Styles) and Blank Space. Swifties have been rewarded with five additional vault tracks including Say Don’t Go, Suburban Legends and Is It Over Now? My personal favourite is Now That We Don’t Talk, a post break-up song also rumoured to be about Styles that is now in widespread use on TikTok as the soundtrack to people’s stories of relationships splits.

The album is beautifully produced, and the theme of falling in love and paying the price of the emotional fall-out when it goes wrong plays out across the vault tracks too.

Is It Over Now? is possibly one of the best vault tracks Swift has ever written, with cutting lyrics such as, ‘at least I had the decency to keep my nights out of sight’. The bridge also has a trending dance on TikTok – a sign of success in 2023 that wasn’t around in 2014 when the album was originally released.

The majority of fans, known as Swifties, love Taylor’s re-recordings, as it allows them to revisit the albums, and listen to it in a completely new light, with additional tracks and merchandise drops. However, some Swifties don’t like the new versions as much as the original albums, as they argue they don’t sound the same and they miss the original version. But all self-respecting Swifties will always make sure they choose Taylor’s Version of all of her contested albums when listening to her tracks.

Overall, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is, in my opinion, the best rerecord yet. The Swifties are already speculating about which album will be next – my money is on Reputation.