We review Fearless (Taylor’s Version), including the new ‘From the Vault’ tracks, as part of Taylor Swift re-recording her masters.
After her old masters were sold to a sworn enemy, Taylor Swift began her process of re-recording her old masters. Yesterday, she released Fearless – Taylor’s Version today, including six new ‘From the Vault’ tracks. It’s a slap in the face to anyone who thought that they would
What the re-recording has made clear is just how timeless Taylor Swift’s songwriting is and what the re-recording has done is elevate the record. It has been 13 years since Fearless was released, but the songs have the ability to continue to speak directly to the teen audience, delving into the nuances of heartbreak and emotional growth. Songs like ‘Fifteen’ feel even more tender when sung by her 31 year old vocal – ‘When somebody tells you they love you, you’re going to believe them’ and the album in its entirety is a gloriously nostalgic and poignant trip down memory lane, replete with first kisses, first loves and first heartbreaks, just as, doubtless the majority of listeners will be experiencing their own overwhelming nostalgia, remembering the first time that they heard the record in their teen years. In its initial release, Fearless crafted the soundtrack for many people’s teen years, as Swift narrated their lives in a way that felt both incredibly universal and specific, pouring her heart into these tracks that overwhelmingly resonated with her audience, albeit this time around with a sharper, more polished vocal.
The six ‘From the Vault’ tracks on Fearless fit seamlessly with the entirety of the project and hammer home just how mature a songwriter she was, even at the age of fifteen. Though none will have the stellar success of ‘Love Story,’ it is interesting to ponder how big ‘Mr Perfectly Fine’ may have become if it was released as a single back in the original Fearless era. This track is easily the best ‘From the Vault’ song, questioning how a former lover is able to act like their relationship did not occur. ‘Hello Mr Perfectly Fine, how’s your heart after breaking mine?’ ‘He goes about his day, forgets he ever even heard my name.’ There’s a certain transcendence about the song, in the knowledge that she is better off without this callous lover, but that one day – she knows – he’ll regret his decision. Elsewhere on the ‘From the Vault’ tracks, Swift teams up with Maren Morris and Keith Urban with aplomb – two tracks that bring her back to her country heyday, while sonically retaining the journey that she has undergone to get to evermore and folklore.
The release of Fearless (Taylor’s Version) demonstrates above all else the timelessness of these phenomenal tracks and the tremendous ability of Swift, even from a much younger age, to pen tracks that are simultaneously universal and personal – speaking to the teen experience in a way that few songwriters have ever done before.
