Taylor Swift - Shake It Off first impressions and 1989 expectations

So at the time of writing, it has been 8 hours since Taylor Swift's livestream on Yahoo. And with it being held at 5PM in the US, it meant that I had to stay up till 5AM to watch it cause' I'm on the other side of the world which kinda sucks abit. But it was worth it. 2 years in the making and the RED era has finally come to an end. Time to see what Taylor has in store for us for the next two years. New album, new songs, new tour, new guitars, new fans, possibly new cat (I hope).

13 seconds to go!

*Heavy breathing*

The moment this happened felt like the moment in the Red Tour when the curtains parted and lifted, revealing Taylor on stage.

So I'm not gonna talk too much about the livestream, if you wanna watch it you can do so here.

There were essentially three parts to the livestream, each part consisting of an announcement. First was the new song, second the new music video and third the album reveal itself. Taylor has done a pretty good job of keeping things under wraps this whole time, with her fans playing detective and most of the theories have been proven wrong. Not bad throwing us off, Taylor, not bad at all. No song leak on the internet, just probably a few lines of the lyrics and the album cover leaking just minutes away from the livestream.

Behold, the fifth studio album from Taylor Swift, 1989. 

The single artwork

But anyways, first impression of the song:

It was so good! I'm not saying this because I'm biased and I'm a big Taylor fan but honestly if I wasn't a fan of her I would love it straight away because it's just so catchy. Gone are the mincing guitar lines and familiar sound that we have grown up listening to but instead it's replaced with horns and trumpets.

The thing I like about this song is the message it brings: that you can be whoever you wanna be and people are gonna say what they wanna say and you can either absorb it in and kill yourself over what they say or you can just...........................shake it off :)

It's really a sassy and upbeat number which you can easily dance to. 

I've noticed a different sounding Taylor in terms of vocals too. There's still a hint of that soft breathy vocal quality from previous albums but there is also this strong kind of pop-ready sound to her which I think the mix between both the old and new sounds really blend well together.

It is easily radio quality, a big improvement over her previous work.

The little rap part brings back memories of the mini monologue from We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. 

Tastefully done and laughable, I will definitely enjoy singing that part in karaokes. Overall this song introduces us to a whole new Taylor but you still get that hint of the real her. Like some things change but it doesn't change too much till it becomes really foreign to you, get what I'm saying?

I'm sure there are already people who've listened to the song or watched the music video shaking their heads and going 'no, this isn't Taylor Swift, she used to be country' or 'she's not country anymore' or 'she's changed so much' or all that kind of stuff.

The thing is ladies and gentlemen, artists are supposed to grow or evolve, if you will. I say that because my definition of a good artist is someone who is willing to take risks, to try new sonic boundaries and new sounds, styles and just see what you can do. That is a mature artist and I genuinely respect those people who actually take risks and make decisions and try something new. Because isn't that what life is about? You never know what surprises you might find. You might love it or not but at least you tried. 

And I'm speaking about artists/musicians in general, not just Taylor.  

Besides, let's just be real for a moment here. 

If she changes her sound (like she does in this album and Red) people would criticize her straying away from country.

If she stays country, people will criticize her and say she's so boring singing the same old songs with the same old style.

See where I'm going? People are gonna say something whatever you do. So just shake it off =D 

Plus, if I were her I wouldn't wanna look back at my life 10 years from now and say 'oh I've only done country records this whole time, I really wished I tried something new'.
And I would really like to address the comments on YouTube and various websites who have called out Taylor because of twerking elements in this video or the musical direction she is going. Honestly if you're gonna not like this song just because of the twerking or the music style then you have not fully appreciated the point of the song. The point of the song is to make fun of yourselves, to not care what people say and to just you know, have some fun and laugh and be humorous. People are taking this way too seriously when it should be all about having fun and being silly. Everyone's entitled to it but I just don't get why people would wanna turn it into such big of an issue. Sigh..y'all need to take a chill pill.
But anyways...

Inspired by 1980's pop sounds, Taylor confirmed that 1989 is going to be a pop album, I'm still unsure if I am ready for this. This might mean no heart wrenching ballads like White Horse, All Too Well but at the same time I'm definitely ready for new sounds like State Of Grace, I Knew You Were Trouble and Holy Ground. I would also like for more guitar laid songs, soft intimate music and just slow ballads because that's where Taylor showcases her songwriting skills the most. There will be 13 tracks on the standard edition album plus an additional 3 songs so I'm really excited for what's on the rest of the album. Here's to another two year journey with Taylor and I will see you guys again with another blog post, hopefully a review of 1989 in around a three month timeframe! :)

And don't forget to check out the music video for Shake It Off here:

Till, then goodbye RED era and welcome, 1989.