FEARLESS

Swifties, rejoice. The first of Taylor Swift’s six re-recorded albums, FEARLESS (TAYLOR’S VERSION), is finally out. After Taylor's former record label Big Machine Records sold the master recordings of her first six albums to Scooter Braun in June 2019, Taylor vowed to re-record them as soon as she was contractually eligible in November 2020. And that she did! This move not only allows Taylor to retain complete ownership of her diaristic life’s work, but to exercise full control of licensing her iconic hits in commercials, movies, TV shows, etc (she’s already brilliantly flexed this point in the rollout of her re-recordings, with the use of LOVE STORY (TAYLOR’S VERSION) in this Ryan-Reynolds-directed Match.com commercial, and most recently with a snippet of WILDEST DREAMS (TAYLOR’S VERSION) in the trailer for Dreamworks’s SPIRIT UNTAMED).

This reissue of Taylor’s first GRAMMY-winning record includes new renditions of beloved country pop hits like YOU BELONG WITH ME and LOVE STORY, as well as six brand new songs “from the vault” — songs she recorded but ultimately scrapped when first putting FEARLESS out in 2008. The vault tracks include collaborations with Maren Morris and Keith Urban that have been produced by Taylor’s most recent collaborators on FOLKLORE and EVERMORE, Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff. It’s a thrilling, creative approach to reinterpreting the past, so check it out this weekend if you’re feeling particularly nostalgic for angsty teen love songs. Personally speaking, I am equal parts terrified and stoked to see what songs Taylor has lying around in the vault for RED…Jake Gyllenhaal, you’ve been warned.

—Neal Mulani, Development Assistant