Taylor Swift Opens Up About ‘Sonic Evolution’ of New Pop Album, 1989
Taylor Swift, the pop star?
— -- Taylor Swift, the pop star?
The 24-year-old singer-songwriter rose to fame with music rooted in strong country influences but she has been known for pushing the boundaries. With her new album, “1989,” she’ll showcase a different sound.
In an interview with ABC News’ Amy Robach that took place before a cheering audience of Swift’s most ardent fans, the star talked about the new album.
“I feel like for the last two years there’s been sort of a sonic evolution happening and I’ve been experimenting more and more. And I think you have to follow, just this intuition, this gut feeling,” she said. “As a songwriter, you just write to write a certain kind of music and you don’t know why.”
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She said she enjoyed working with the various producers and songwriters and collaborators who contributed to the project and said she was proud of “1989,” calling it “sort of an almost musical rebirth in that it’s my first pop album.”
The album will be released on Oct. 27 and is already available for pre-sale on Swift’s website. The singer will perform live on "Good Morning America" the same day as her album's release.
Robach asked whether Swift had a favorite band from the 1980s.
“Well, I’ve been listening to a lot of Peter Gabriel, and, like, Fine Young Cannibals. And anything that was in a John Hughes movie. And - oh, Boy George,” Swift replied, naming some of the top names of that decade.
Swift also shared insight about “Shake If Off,” one of the tracks on her new album. The message in the song is to rise above issues which threaten to get you down, she said.
“I think that for me, writing this song was partly about my life, but it’s mostly about the things that I hear from my fans and comments on – in Instagram, and Facebook and Twitter, and things like that … But I think that you have to, you have to not only live your life in spite of people who don’t understand you, you have to have more fun than they do,” she said, laughing.
Swift revealed the video for “Shake It Off,” in a live streamed event on ABCNews.com, GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo! and Yahoo.com on Monday.
Robach also asked Swift about her friendships, pointing out that the star likes to post on social media photos of her friends.
“How do you choose your friends?” Robach asked.
Swift said she chose to be friends with people who challenged her, or with whom she had things in common.
“I think that it doesn’t matter what career my friends have. It just based on the fact that – I can really related to people who are very driven, and intelligent,” she said. “You want to be around, like, smart, exciting people. I think that just brings you up.”
Swift also talked to Robach about her recent OpEd piece in The Wall Street Journal in which she wrote about the growing interest in the private lives of musicians.
“The element of human curiosity is never going to go away,” she said. “And I just try really hard to have the right outlook … .”
Fans are important, Swift said, adding that the ones who “get” her make it easier to deal with people who don’t.
When Swift directly addressed the group of gathered fans to express her gratitude for their support, they cheered.
Swift, who will perform at the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards, said she plans to challenge herself at the event.
She acknowledged to Robach that she writes music to surprise rather than shock.
“I think the element of surprise is what we want. It’s what we long for. We want to be surprised,” she said. “And I think that shock is a different thing. I think (with) the element of surprise, you keep trust intact.”
