Crystal Aura Gaze

Following the 2021 re-recordings of “Fearless” and “Red”, this year brought us “Speak Now” and “1989.” And sandwiched in between that was the original release of “Midnights” in 2022, not to mention a worldwide tour through all of that. The woman never rests!

“Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” came out this past July. It’s the re-recording of her third album from 2010. This brought back a lot of precious memories from when I was sixteen-years old. This is a country-pop album that follows the same fairytale theme as “Fearless.” There’s also the pressure to be more mature, the fear of making mistakes, and the anxiety of how the future is going to change you and possibly break you.

My favorite tracks from this album have always been “Sparks Fly” and “Ours.” The new version also came with six from-the-vault tracks including features from Fall Out Boy and Paramore. My favorite vault track is “When Emma Falls In Love,” which includes the lyric “like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town” – you know I love my Cleo references!

A music video was released for “I Can See You.” The song itself is about having a crush on someone and trying to suppress it because it feels wrong and inappropriate. The music video, however, it more about Taylor’s process of freeing herself through her re-recordings. Taylor Lautner is in it, who Taylor had briefly dated during the original process of the album and wrote “Back To December” about. We love a non-problematic ex who remains on good terms with Tay.

“1989 (Taylor’s Version)” just came out this past week. This is her fifth album from 2014, also her first album that went full-on pop. It’s a very fun and lighthearted record and possibly her most famous and well-liked. Personally, though, this was never my favorite of hers. I feel like it isn’t as deep as her other work and lacking some substance. Having said that, I still enjoy it very much!

My favorite tracks on this album are: Style, This Love, and I Know Places. Style is an absolute masterpiece! I have to say that the production on the new version is not as good as the original – much of the internet agrees with this. But I also felt like other songs, like I Know Places, had even better production than the OG.

This Love is so calming and beautiful. There’s only three slow songs on this record, and this track is one of them. I love the concept of letting go of someone and having faith that they will come back to you.

I Know Places is super underrated! “The are the hunters, we are the foxes; and we run!” I love the intensity; it makes you feel like you are fighting at war. This is about preserving a relationship when it feels like the world is trying to tear you two apart.

There’s five from-the-vault tracks. I really like “Slut!” which has a dreamy and hazy tune that doesn’t necessarily fit in with the overall sound of 1989. “And if they call me a ‘slut,’ you know it might be worth it for once.” This is about the beginning of a relationship when you know that people are going to judge you, deciding to go for it despite getting criticized.

Apparently “Is It Over Now?” is getting released as a single. This is a great one too – I especially love the production/sound of it. Don’t ask, but something about the music reminds me of the sounds I heard on the video games I played as a kid, so it brings back this sense of nostalgia!

That’s four albums down, two to go…