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My general opinion of Taylor Swift has vacillated wildly since my days as a teenager who loved the pop star’s brand of ultra personal heartbreak themed music. Her rather divisive public image has, admittedly, soured the impact of her musical offerings but 1989 is an undeniable gem. 1989 is the 5th studio album from Swift who seems to have done quite a bit of growing up on this release while working with some pretty interesting names.

1989 opens brightly with Swift’s latest single ‘Welcome to New York’. The track is a glittery ultra catchy New York themed hype-track, cleverly positioned at the start of the record. Swift’s persistent vocals pair well  with the bouncy, 80s tinged keyboard-led chorus. The opener transitions neatly into the 808 heavy ‘Blank Space’.

‘Blank Space’ is likely one of my favourite tracks on the record, juxtaposing Swift’s saccharine vocals over a pretty deep r&b drum beat. The unique vocal and lyrical arrangements on this one showcase some pretty interesting choices on the part of T-Swizzle and her production team.

For this record Swift worked pretty closely with Fun.’s Jack Antonoff, Onerepublic's Ryan Tedder, Johan Schuster, and some other pop heavyweights. The production is markedly different on this release. Complex and tactile, there’s quite a bit of cross genre wiggle room for the star. This new sound was certainly built for filled stadiums and large performances as opposed to small rooms.

‘Blank Space’ rolls into ‘Style’, a track that sounds like it could have been on the Tron: Legacy soundtrack. Deep, bassy, thumping, and gifted with Swift’s trademark lyricism, ‘Style’ is another stand out. ‘Out of the Woods’ takes on a similar tempo--persistent and expansive, the track builds on qualities akin to a tense anticipation. Despite the album’s penchant toward some pretty shiny production, Swift doesn’t betray her songwriting roots on this one.

The scathing and pointed ‘Bad Blood’ alludes pretty vaguely to a frenemy who burned Swift. While it’s fun to speculate on who the unnamed backstabber could potentially be, there’s no denying that Swiftie’s voice mingles quite nicely alongside the post r&b thrumming of the song’s underlying bass beat. It seems on tracks like this, Swift has taken some pretty daring cues from the likes of Marina and the Diamonds and Charlie XCX. Fast paced and well arranged ‘New Romance’ takes on a similar aesthetic. In fact, my money is on this party banger being Swift’s next single.

Though extremely well produced, 1989 continues on in a pretty similar manner from start to finish. Interesting sounding enough, my only criticism about this record is its surface qualities. While the sound is new, Swift doesn’t take on  anything revolutionary on this release. She displays a similar capacity for songwriting, although she seems to have dialled it back a bit. It’s a perfectly pleasant release that lacks the nuance of some of her contemporaries. Saying that, I would add that this is likely Swift’s best release and her progression has certainly not gone unnoticed. Simply put, it’s a great pop record.