After two beautiful and delicate albums, Taylor Swift has continued to push out even more content for her fans and has announced that the new re-recorded version of the Fearless album (Taylor's Version) is coming very soon; April 9th to be exact, as Taylor hinted through an easter egg that fans found instantly in her announcement and ‘Love Story’ is available on a multitude of platforms already. It has been 13 years since the original version of Love Story, and the Fearless album was released. The number 13 is also Taylor’s lucky number, so it may not be a coincidence that she is beginning the journey of re-recording all of her past albums with this one in particular.
The new version of the song is identical in terms of style, instrumentation and melody, it does not follow the stylings of ‘folklore’ and ‘evermore’. I think it’s important that the rest of the album follows this pattern. Whilst a reimagined version of ‘Fearless’ would be interesting – to see what certain songs would sound like if Taylor took inspiration from her last two albums - I believe it is important to both Taylor and her fans that the album remains the same style. It helps to give off a feeling of nostalgia.
The quality of sound is vastly different; everything sounds more crisp and forward in this re-recorded version. The mixing of the track is also much better in quality when you compare the two tracks side by side. Instrumentation that is barely audible in the original recording is now brighter and bolder. For me the drums and percussion stand out a lot more and they really drive the new version more so than they did the original.
The vocals remain very similar despite the difference in time. However, Taylor’s voice does sound more mature in the latest recording and it has that really sweet tone that was present within ‘folklore’ and ‘evermore’ and fits rather perfectly. The chorus hits more with this sense of maturity and there are some more small changes within the second verse which I really love; it feels as though there’s more emotion there which really helps to elevate the song and the story within it. The peak of the song after the bridge and heading into the final stretch is so well mixed and it creates that sense of urgency that mirrors the lyrics beautifully to lead the song to the finish line.
I’m unable to find anything that I dislike about this re-recording. I grew up listening to Taylor Swift and found a lot of musical inspiration from her so being able to re-experience this song all over again creates an incredible nostalgic feeling which I imagine many fans will be able to relate to. I will be eagerly awaiting April 9th for the album release to see how the rest of the tracks compare with the originals. In particular, I am looking forward to hearing how songs such as: ‘White Horse’, ‘Tell Me Why’ and ‘You’re Not Sorry’ sound. Taylor has matured a lot over the years and these songs will likely be packed full of emotion with all that she has learned.
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