Interview: Taylor Swift Reveals the Makings Of ‘1989’
By Alan Light
“Every record, I’ve tried to challenge myself to make something different,” says Taylor Swift. “Red was really experimental, so I ended up with a sound that went from mandolins to dubstep. This time, the goal and the end result were completely opposite. On Red, I wanted to try on as many different sounds as I could; on 1989, it was about figuring out which sound fit and wearing it proudly.”
For her fifth album, Swift determined that the sound she was looking for was pop from the 1980s (she’s mentioned Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, and Annie Lennox as influences), and she titled the record after the year of her birth. The first single, the irresistible confection “Shake It Off,” was a proclamation of her new direction, while the second track released, “Out of the Woods,” co-written and produced by fun.’s Jack Antonoff, revealed a moodier, sparser feel. “I’m really proud of that song,” she says, “and once I wrote it, I really had a sense of where the album’s sound was going.”
From the anthemic opener, “Welcome to New York” all the way through “Clean,” the pulsing, aqua-themed closing track, the thirteen songs on 1989 are a chronicle of loves lost and loves salvaged, a definitive move away from the country narratives that propelled her to global superstardom.
At the same time, Swift has recently demonstrated a new outspokenness, especially a rising awareness of feminism, while maintaining her expressive appreciation for her fans; she hosted a series of “Secret Sessions,” inviting her most devoted followers to her homes to listen to 1989 before its release.
On the telephone from Nashville, Taylor Swift discussed her goals for the album, her changing relationship to her audience, and her tips for how to dress as Taylor Swift for Halloween.
~
Radio.com: You’ve made clear that this is the Taylor Swift pop album. Did you know before you started that this was going to be a different kind of record for you, or did that emerge once you were working?
Taylor Swift: I had a few goals going into it. I wanted it to be a sonically cohesive album, and it ended up really being the first I’ve done since Fearless. I also wanted the songs to sound exactly how the emotions felt. I know that’s pretty vague, so I really didn’t know where it was going to go, but I knew that I wanted to work with the collaborators I had such crazy electricity with on Red, like Max Martin. I wanted to do some things that sounded nothing like what we had done before.
I like making records in a two-year process, because you generally throw out most of what you write the first year, because those are too similar to what you had done before. And then at some point after that, it becomes a sound, it gets dialed in. I realized that I was being inspired by these ‘80s synth-pop elements, so I came up with the title 1989 and clued in everyone that that’s what I was going for, and made sure I was working with a really close team that was up to that.
So how does that actually affect the songwriting? Did you have to use a different process, or get rid of things that felt like they were going a different direction?
You determine what the album is going to be, then you see which songs don’t fit the theme, the message, the emotional or song DNA of the album. Once you dial in what it’s really going to be, then you can start seriously exploring ideas, and only the ideas that are really on point stay on the album.
You recently made a strong statement supporting Emma Watson’s speech at the United Nations about gender equality, and you’ve spoken about how your friendship with Lena Dunham has altered your idea of feminism. Does your new attitude about these issues come through in the new songs?
I think there’s an emotional undercurrent that expresses how my life has changed priority-wise. There’s nothing overt, nothing that comes out and says “I only care about my girlfriends now, and I don’t need a man to make me happy.” It’s just the idea that right now I’m thrilled, excited, fascinated by things other than boys.
You started as a young artist with young fans. Do you feel like your audience is growing up as you grow up, or do you continue to direct your work to the same kind of young fan base?
The most interesting thing about meeting my fans now is that they say, “I’ve been listening to your music for eight years—I was in middle school and now I’m in college, and it’s like you’re my older sister and we’ve grown up together.” I’m not trying to be one of them if they’re fifteen, not trying to act like them or dress like them. I do feel more like a big sister, and they ask me for advice and I try to give it to them, whether that’s in an Instagram comment or in a song. The relationship has morphed, changed, and I think as long as I keep telling them an honest narrative of my life, they’ll keep subscribing.
How did the “Secret Sessions” playback events come about, and what are you learning as you watch your fans first listen to the album?
These playbacks have been the most exciting, fun thing I’ve done. It never occurred to me before to play an album for my fans before it came out. I just think my excitement level is so high this time. I wanted them to be in a comfortable, fun scenario, and to feel like they were special—because they are, everybody there is hand-picked. Whether they run a blog about me but never met me, or they came to nine shows and waited for me outside the stage door, I wanted to single those people out and get them together.
It’s been so much fun, so educational, to see which songs they’re obsessing over. I wasn’t expecting them to gravitate to the last track on the album, a song called “Clean” that I did with Imogen Heap, but so far, that one really seems to hit them the hardest. You see things come out of the woodwork like that and it’s a real surprise.
This week is Halloween. What should someone wear for the best Taylor Swift costume?
I guess either the shirt with the eagles that I’m wearing on the album cover, or else one of the looks from the “Shake It Off” video. That definitely gives you some options.
