Photo taken from @taylorswift Instagram

Taylor shows off her stunning windblown hairSTYLE and beautiful smile on her album cover.

At 9 p.m. last Thursday, Taylor Swift dropped her highly-anticipated album “1989 (Taylor’s Version).” We (Marci Rau ‘24 and Tahlia Jain ‘26) both had Mock Trial practice that night, but we could only think about the release while we were supposed to be memorizing arguments. 

“Style” is my (Tahlia’s) favorite “1989” song, so the calmer tone threw me off a little, as did the ones from “Shake It Off” and “Bad Blood.” Junior Nahomi Vallejo-Saito agreed, “I loved ‘1989 (Taylors Version)!’ Some songs were very different than the original, such as ‘Style,’ but they are still so good!”

The vault tracks (songs Taylor wrote at the time of the album’s first release but did not publish until now) made up for the differences in the original songs. Taylor shared how the “1989” re-record is her favorite of all six because of the vault tracks. Overall, we feel all of the vault tracks brought Taylor back into her “Midnights” era, as a lot of “Midnights” songs sound similar to the new ones listed below.

“Say Don’t Go”

One of our favorite songs on the album made us love it from the first five seconds’ slightly ominous beat. The chorus is bouncy and fun without being annoyingly pop-y, so we haven’t gotten tired of hearing it.

“Suburban Legends”

I (Tahlia) adored the pun in the title, so I was most excited for this vault track. We love the choppy tempo, and out of all the vault tracks, this song would fit best with the techno-jazzy sound of the “Midnights” album.

“Is It Over Now?”

This was intense, to put it lightly. We love girlboss Taylor and the slightly angry edge of her voice in an otherwise calm song. Other Royals also love the track; sophomore Molly Betance explained, “I would say that my favorite vault song is ‘Is It Over Now?’ It’s super catchy, and I’m a sucker for anything written about Harry Styles (especially if it’s by Taylor).”

“Now That We Don’t Talk”

We enjoyed this song, but it sounded more like a regular pop tune than the rest of Taylor’s music. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it threw us for a loop since “folklore” and “evermore” have shown us how deep she gets. Nahomi adored the song, though:  “My favorite vault track is ‘Now That We Don’t Talk’ because the lyrics are so good, and I love dancing to it!”

“‘[Censored]!’”

We were definitely expecting a fast-paced, angry song because of the exclamation point in the name, so we were not anticipating the softer melody that reminded us of “Snow on the Beach” from the “Midnights” album. It was a little underwhelming but still nice.

Additionally, we were expecting a collaboration with artists like Selena Gomez or Harry Styles, so we were shocked when Taylor absolutely destroyed Harry Styles with songs like “Is It Over Now?” It looks like Harry and Taylor have some serious bad blood. 

Speaking of which, we did NOT love how Kendrick Lamar had his own verses in “Bad Blood,” but we still have the normal version without him (no hate to Kendrick, but rapping doesn’t mesh well with Taylor’s songs—same with “Karma ft. Ice Spice”).

Taylor’s voice is more mature now than it was in 2014’s original “1989,” so the big-city, young adult vibes aren’t really present in the updated tracks, making the songs more nostalgic and reflective than party bangers. 

However, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” was still incredibly clean and exceeded our wildest dreams, and we’re so glad Taylor regained ownership of her music; she’s making her way out of the Scooter Braun-infested woods since doing the re-records. Legally speaking, Taylor probably has to make the songs sound different so Big Machine Records doesn’t sue her (even though it’s her music). Now we’re just waiting for “reputation (Taylor’s Version),” which we KNOW Taylor will drop without explanation on New Year’s Day at midnight Eastern Time as the (mirror)ball drops in Times Square.

Overall album rating: 8.9/10

Slightly off topic, but I (Marci) have also been loving the new romantics: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. He really knew how to get the girl. To all the Swifties still missing Joe Alywn, I wish you would shake it off and appreciate this love. For more insight on the new relationship, go read the article by Lily Curtis ’24 and Paloma Borsari ’24: https://royalreporter.org/37829/showcase/swifties-taking-over-the-nfl/.