By SAMANTHA PAYTON, Editor
It’s safe to say that Taylor Swift’s new album, “Red,” strays far from her normal style. Instead of her usual laid-back, country feel intertwined with stories about past and current boyfriends, Swift decided to try something different. She decided to take a more pop-like approach to “Red,” using more auto tune and slight distortion of her voice to mix up her music a little bit.
She tries to add emphasis to certain parts of her songs by repeatedly saying words in nearly all of her music. At first, the album may come across as strong and strange compared to Swift’s earlier music, but after listening to it a few times, the old Swift can still be found hidden under all the change.
The song “Red” features a nice banjo intro as well as an electric guitar based instrumental giving the album the country essence that most Swift fans have come to know and appreciate. It takes the feelings of love and loss and compares them to different colors to give people something to relate to. “I Knew You Were Trouble” gives people something with a nice upbeat electronic feel. It goes deep into Swift’s feelings about falling for a troublesome boy. The songs “The Last Time” featuring Gary Lightbody and “Everything Has Changed” featuring Ed Sheeran give listeners the sense of style from other artists mixed with Swifts own voice. Sheeran is an up and coming artists gaining huge momentum. Out of the UK, Sheeran soft lyrics and strong brogue give listeners a refreshing change. “The Last Time” has beautiful lyrics centered around the central idea of receiving one last chance at love. “Everything Has Changed” is a charming story about the feeling of love at first sight.
This new album is Swift’s way of showing people that she isn’t satisfied with pleasing just one type of audience. She’s looking to expand and reach out to different people who have different tastes in music, while still conveying the message of who she is.
Though the way she presents it is different, Swift’s stories about love and loss, hook-ups and break-ups, have continued to be a mainstay of her music. Her unique and clever lyrics paired with the catchy hooks and choruses are sure to charm any Taylor fan and will branch to reach a much wider audience.
