Taylor Swift’s common category of song topics often gets her depicted as that annoying friend who over-shares relationship details on Facebook and ambiguously complains about former boyfriends on Twitter. Whether you love her or hate her, the overwhelming success and popularity of the country-pop queen is difficult to ignore. On Monday, Swift released her fourth album titled “Red.” Already popular with five songs pre-released on iTunes, the album is expected to sell over one million copies in its first week.
Throughout the 16-track album, Taylor Swift dabbles in a range of music genres previously featured in her song catalog. Swift recently spoke with Rolling Stone about the variety of songs on “Red.”
“I really wanted to experiment with my sound and the amount of colors I can paint with,” Swift said. “Each song is so different from any other song, it’s a really exciting experience to listen to the album from top to bottom,” she said.
Swift steps further away from her country roots with the pop-rock and dubstep-inspired “I Knew You Were Trouble.” About being cautious yet exhilarated by a new romance, “Treacherous” may be her most provocative song yet with lyrics stating, “I’ll do anything if you say it with your hands.” Two duets are featured: the hauntingly beautiful “The Last Time” with Snow Patrol lead singer Gary Lightbody and harmony-filled “Everything Has Changed” with British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.
Swift’s songwriting abilities improved with this album making significantly fewer references to scenarios of meeting, fighting, dancing and kissing in the rain. Unlike previous albums, only one of the tracks briefly mentions Swift’s favorite kind of precipitation.
Swift presents a new self-confidence on “Red” that has lacked on her previous albums. The majority of the songs are based on empowering oneself and being hopeful about new life experiences. While it is getting harder to feel sorry for Taylor’s failed relationships, her fans hope her knack for creating catchy melodies will never ever fail. Like… ever.