Swift dominated headlines and award show crowd shots in 2014, reaching a point of oversaturation, and leading to her retreat from the public eye prior to the release of her undercelebrated revenge record, 2017's 'Reputation.' With Swift getting similar treatment on NFL broadcasts due to her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, could history repeat itself?ĭoes Taylor Swift make Kelce and the Chiefs play better? Parker Johnsonīrittany Spanos, senior writer at Rolling Stone, puts it simply: 'People just get easily sick of anyone who's super famous. They'll find connections to 'Out of the Woods' on 'Is It Over Now?' in the lyrics 'when you lost control / red blood, white snow.' They'll wonder who made her pretend to like acid rock and mega yachts on 'Now That We Don't Talk.' But more insight will be found in thinking about where Swift was at the time, what came next, and how that mirrors the current moment. ' Slut!' may recall her contentious relationship with the press, which fixated on her alleged romantic relationships and the songs she'd write once they ended.

Listeners will dive deep into the vault tracks for clues into Swift's mind around 2014. Here are some key things to consider as '1989' propels the New Peak Swift era forward: OPENING THE VAULT Her return to '1989' - the album where she began to confront media portrayals of herself and in song - comes at another Swift popularity crescendo but also during a 2010s nostalgia (Yes, it's only 2023. The project - the fourth of six rereleases - was instigated by music manager Scooter Braun's purchase and sale of her early catalog and represents Swift's effort to control her own songs and how they're used. Previous 'Taylor's Version' releases have been more than conventional rerecordings, arriving with new music, Easter eggs and visuals that deepen understanding of her work. ' 1989 (Taylor's Version),' out Friday, takes that version of Swift - then in her mid-20s, living in New York, prepared to take on the world with an arsenal of '80s synth sounds and a new producer named Jack Antonoff - and includes five unreleased 'vault' tracks that deliver more clues about the artist she was then. Swift had shed the Nashville country roots of her first four studio albums and announced herself a full-fledged pop superstar. Released in 2014 and named for her birth year, the original '1989' signified a sonic rebirth.

Taylor Swift's reimagined '1989' is here, the album that ushered in the first Peak Swift era - revisited at the height of her massive pop culture dominance.