I've liked Taylor Swift from the start, which for me was hearing "Love Story" on the radio and immediate purchase of Fearless a few years back (also, her debut), and kept on listening to her, or at least to the songs that had stuck with me, pretty consistently since then.
I'd been aware that she was still going around, and becoming bigger and bigger, but hadn't really followed her career; it seemed entirely possible that I already had all of her music that I needed. But then there were two things that made me think I should catch up: first, it seemed like something interesting had happened with the phenomenon of 'Taylor Swift', whereby not only had she become a full blown pop megastar but a fair degree of critical acclaim had followed; and second, having my attention caught by a music video on tv one weekend morning, spoken word intro, catchy hyper-pop lines, and arresting-looking blonde singer, which I realised partway through was in fact Swift.
So, Speak Now came out a couple of years back, and it's a strong album, building on the strengths of her earlier records and showing Swift's increased facility for anthemic, memorable pop songs, sometimes with a sweetly countryish air and sometimes a bit harder-edged.
But Red is the one that really arrests; the song-writing is stronger and more consistent, and the (stadium/dancefloor) pop elements now fully entrenched and indeed the foundation for many of the album's most striking, and best, moments - the airily driving, U2-esque "State of Grace", title track "Red", "I Knew You Were Trouble" (the one I'd seen the video for) and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (the two most obviously state of the moment pop-infused), and late-album entry "Starlight"...impressively, it runs for 16 songs and stays good the whole way through.
It's hard to know just how knowing Swift is in her invocation of youth and dropping of its vernacular throughout; who knows, because it's entirely plausible that most 22 year olds would be just as aware of their own time of life-ness as she is on the song of the same name, "22" (it's tempting to see it as an update on her previous "Fifteen"), while still speaking in exactly the kind of argot that she brings to her lyrics. It probably doesn't matter, anyway - either way, she captures the giddiness and drama of that time of life, as well as the all-round exhilaration, and it's that as much as the catchy-verging-on-ridiculous hooks on which she builds so many of her choruses and bridge transitions, and her winsome, characterful singing (highlighted throughout, but often particularly on the less pyrotechnic tunes like "Treacherous" and "The Lucky One"), that makes Red such a gigantic, and fantastic, pop record. Inevitably there are no doubt any number of elements that have come together to lead to fame, fortune and praise for Swift - but I think the most important is simply that she's really good.
I'd been aware that she was still going around, and becoming bigger and bigger, but hadn't really followed her career; it seemed entirely possible that I already had all of her music that I needed. But then there were two things that made me think I should catch up: first, it seemed like something interesting had happened with the phenomenon of 'Taylor Swift', whereby not only had she become a full blown pop megastar but a fair degree of critical acclaim had followed; and second, having my attention caught by a music video on tv one weekend morning, spoken word intro, catchy hyper-pop lines, and arresting-looking blonde singer, which I realised partway through was in fact Swift.
So, Speak Now came out a couple of years back, and it's a strong album, building on the strengths of her earlier records and showing Swift's increased facility for anthemic, memorable pop songs, sometimes with a sweetly countryish air and sometimes a bit harder-edged.
But Red is the one that really arrests; the song-writing is stronger and more consistent, and the (stadium/dancefloor) pop elements now fully entrenched and indeed the foundation for many of the album's most striking, and best, moments - the airily driving, U2-esque "State of Grace", title track "Red", "I Knew You Were Trouble" (the one I'd seen the video for) and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (the two most obviously state of the moment pop-infused), and late-album entry "Starlight"...impressively, it runs for 16 songs and stays good the whole way through.
It's hard to know just how knowing Swift is in her invocation of youth and dropping of its vernacular throughout; who knows, because it's entirely plausible that most 22 year olds would be just as aware of their own time of life-ness as she is on the song of the same name, "22" (it's tempting to see it as an update on her previous "Fifteen"), while still speaking in exactly the kind of argot that she brings to her lyrics. It probably doesn't matter, anyway - either way, she captures the giddiness and drama of that time of life, as well as the all-round exhilaration, and it's that as much as the catchy-verging-on-ridiculous hooks on which she builds so many of her choruses and bridge transitions, and her winsome, characterful singing (highlighted throughout, but often particularly on the less pyrotechnic tunes like "Treacherous" and "The Lucky One"), that makes Red such a gigantic, and fantastic, pop record. Inevitably there are no doubt any number of elements that have come together to lead to fame, fortune and praise for Swift - but I think the most important is simply that she's really good.
