Taylor Swift released the re-recorded version of her album, Fearless, Friday, April 9th. Her 20 re-recorded songs and 6 vault tracks soon held the top 26 spots for most currently listened to country music that day. 

After Swift’s 13-year deal with Big Machine Records expired, she quickly signed a new deal with Republic Records and Universal Music Group. After this deal, Big Machine refused to give up ownership of Swift’s first six albums she recorded under contract with them.

 Without Swift’s knowledge, Big Machine sold her masters to Scooter Braun, a well-known talent manager for celebrities like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Demi Lavato.  Braun and Brocetta from Big Machine now have a say in how the recordings of all her albums up until (and including), Reputation, will be used.

Starting November 2020, Taylor Swift gained the rights to re-record her first 6 albums, and she started with the release of her second album, Fearless.

Her re-recordings of Fearless drew attention from more than just Swift fans alone because many people felt nostalgia from her 2008 songs “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.”

There are very minimal discrepancies between the original and re-recorded versions of her second album. The only major difference is that her voice has matured over the span of 13 years. Additionally, the re-recorded album is a far stray from the maturity of her albums Folklore and Evermore, released in 2020, which contain beautifully poetic lyrics.

Despite the heavy comparisons that could be made between her first re-recorded album and her more recent works, Swift produced several incredible songs on Fearless (Taylor’s Version).

One of my personal favorites on this album is the vault track, “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” where Swift sings about a boy who quickly moved on from a break up that left her shattered. The song has an upbeat, country-pop sound that could easily be danced along to like her popular song “Love Story.”

Additionally to the upbeat songs on Fearless, she beautifully portrays her teenage heartbreak in songs like “White Horse” and “We Were Happy.” If listened to carefully, you can hear a change in tone as she sings songs at 31-years-old that she wrote at 18 due to the change in perspective that comes from age and growth.

After a long history in the music industry, Taylor Swift took back the narrative of her story by beginning the re-recordings of her master albums. Overjoyed by the re-release of Fearless, myself and many others look forward to what she has in store for future re-recordings, as well as a potential 10th studio album in the future.