Taylor Swift turns the corner with 1989

Since she was 14 years old and knocking on doors in Nashville, Taylor Swift has always been one to go big. The multi-platinum singer’s latest album, 1989 is no exception.

1989 is a roller coaster of sounds — ups, downs, synths and drums, none of which have ever been heard before from Swift. These elements interact and culminate to create a pop album that is musically brilliant and serves as a perfect milestone in her career, lending sophisticated musical credibility and a launchpad for her new pop prospects.  At the age of 24, Swift’s music has finally lost the diary-like naïveté and angst it always possessed and moved on to bigger and better things.  This album, bursting at the seams with optimism, offers a realistic, maturing twist on many of the same issues Swift has always written about.

Swift’s songwriting has always yanked emotion out of even the hardest-hearted of listeners, but its girlish drama was a turnoff for many.  1989, though, manifests the same emotional pull but with a more sophisticated, levelheaded and, maybe more importantly, assured approach.

In typical Swift fashion, the songs on 1989 center almost entirely on her romantic relationships.  This time, though, she approaches them with the pragmatic realism of a 24-year-old woman, instead of the jaded naïveté of an 18-year-old girl.  Swift’s fresh take on relationships comes to light and emphasizes her maturity.  “All You Had To Do Was Stay”, for example, continues the trend of relationship songs, but are presented in a very different light than anything she has ever written. The title gives the impression that this song will once again sully one of Swift’s many exes for not staying, but she instead admits her own part in a bungled relationship.  This approach makes obvious the fact that Swift has done a lot of maturing in both her personal life and her songwriting.

“Style” brings to a positive light a failed relationship — something that is rare in Swift’s songwriting.  It is reminiscent but grounded and, though it has the potential to be another Swift kick in the you-know-whats to a certain British pop sensation ex-boyfriend, doesn’t paint him in a negative light.  The newly-sobered Swift instead opts for a change of pace, taking responsibility and acknowledging the fact that relationships are a two-way-street.  In fact, none of the songs on 1989 do.  Swift’s ex-shaming days appear to have finally come to a close, which is a refreshing change and makes the entire album immediately more likeable.

Even “Bad Blood”, a song about catty competition reminiscent of “Better Than Revenge” that tells the story of a frenemy who did Swift wrong, has a more mature take.  Swift makes it clear that she is not one to mess with without sounding like a guileless, whiny girl-done-wrong.

1989 opens with the highly criticized “Welcome To New York”, one of the most upbeat tracks on the album.  This song, with its confident testament to new beginnings, serves as an analogy for the entire album—it signifies Swift’s break from country and her transition to a world of mainstream popular music that she has managed to make all her own.

She then moves into two tracks that solidify her transition to pop.  “Blank Space” and “Style” are chalk full of synth and electronic sounds and couldn’t be considered country even in the cursory sense that Swift once incorporated into Red.  “Blank Space” shows a mature approach to Swift’s notorious dating.  “Got a long list of ex lovers/They’ll tell you I’m insane,” she crows, knowingly.  “But I’ve got a blank space/*pen click*/And I’ll write your name.”  Funny and astute, the song is the first sign that Swift has ever acknowledged her own part in her infamous relationship issues.

“I Know Places” goes into a place darker than any Swift has ever delved, with a surprisingly deep, enigmatic intro that proves she is still fearless.  The chorus, though, plunges once again into the upbeat character that underlies all of 1989.  The positive spin on this album that is prevalent in some way in every track is one we’ve been waiting for from Swift.  An obviously genuine optimism toward life, love and critics shines through her work and is guaranteed to help any listener “Shake It Off”.

Swift also brings in breathy pieces that she’s never explored before.  “Wildest Dreams” and, especially, “Clean” prove that Swift can not only successfully make a pop album, but that she can go almost anywhere she wants to with her music.  “Clean” is Swift’s token ballad but is also unlike any ballad she has ever produced.  It encompasses the deeply emotional undertones of songs like “All Too Well”, but in an entirely different style.  Light and breathy, her collaboration on this track with Imogen Heap is evident and so successful.  Swift transforms a beautiful ballad, one strength she has had since her very first album, into something brand new and different that slides perfectly into the last spot on 1989.  It is the perfect ending to an incredibly daring album.

Swift’s endeavor into uncharted territory was a huge leap and it paid off.   Her realism and maturity are refreshing and don’t drag down any of the 13 upbeat, strikingly catchy songs.  This notable synthesis of fun and verism sets up an album brimming with catchy musical acumen and, more than ever before, undeniable credibility.  1989 sounds nothing like any music Swift has ever produced — it deviates from her most poppy songs (think: “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “Red”) — while also maintaining her heightened emotion and the confessional quality that have already endeared her to so many fans.  Her newfound maturity and optimism practically radiate off of every striking track to generate a truly impressive and unique album that brings her out of the woods and onto the pop scene in a transition as drastic as it is superb.