On October 27, 2023, Taylor Swift released her 4th rerecorded album, 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The pop album featured every song from the original 1989 album and five new “vault tracks.”
Junior Gabriela Kondé had high hopes for the new album. She said her favorite song on the album was New Romantics.
“I just love it, especially listening to it in the car when I drive to school,” Kondé said. “It pumps me up for the morning.”
As a musician herself, Kondé appreciates the stylistic elements of the songs on the newly released album.
“I think the sound production and the quality are a lot better,” Kondé said. “You can really hear the different instruments that she put into [the album] to give more of a complex feel.”
Along with herself, Kondé’s friends and family anticipated the release.
“My sister is a huge Taylor Swift fan,” Kondé said. “She was texting me the entire week leading up to the release. She’d be like, ‘T-minus seven days and T-minus six days.’ Also, I drive my neighbor to school every day, and she was also super excited. We were excited to listen to it together and see each other’s reactions.”
Kondé said she was most surprised by the vault track songs, especially “S*ut!”
“It definitely doesn’t seem like something of the brand of Taylor when she was in that era, but it’s really interesting to see what other things were going through her head at that time,” Kondé said.
Senior Sasha Johnston also greatly enjoyed Taylor Swift’s 1989 but had controversial opinions about her recent releases. Though Johnston found the album to be enjoyable, she has mixed feelings about the value of rereleasing the same music over and over again.
“I thought it was good, It kind of just felt like the old one.” Johnston said.
Johnston appreciated the changes Taylor Swift has made to her work but expressed a preference for her most well-known songs.
“I gotta go with the popular big hits like Shake it Off and Blank Space.” Johnston said.
Johnston expressed her dissatisfaction with Taylor Swift’s lack of creativity in the latter part of her career.
“I feel like she’s just doing it to every single album, she’s doing too much.” Johnston said.
The release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) leaves Kondé enthusiastic about the rumored release of another rerecorded Taylor Swift album, Reputation.
“I love all the different new versions of her albums, and I’ve always been really excited for all of them, so this just adds to the excitement,” Kondé said.