Taylor Swift fans celebrate as pop star releases 1989 (Taylor’s Version)

Singer-songwriter has released the fourth of her own ‘versions’ of her early albums, complete with five previously scrapped tracks from the vault

Taylor Swift has released the re-recorded version of her multi-award-winning album, 1989.

The US pop artist, 33, began re-recording her first six albums in 2019 as a means of regaining control over her music, following music manager Scooter Braun’s purchase of Swift’s original record label, Big Machine Records.

Since then, Swift has been steadily releasing “Taylor’s Version” editions of her albums, which feature newly recorded vocals and bonus tracks “from the vault” that were excluded from the record the first time around.

On Friday (27 October), Swift released 1989 (Taylor’s Version), exactly nine years to the day after 1989 came out in 2014.

The 2023 release includes new recordings of all tracks from the deluxe 1989 record, as well as five additional tracks: “Slut!”, “Say Don’t Go”, “Now That We Don’t Talk”, “Suburban Legends” and “Is it Over Now?”.

In 2021, she dropped Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red(Taylor’s Version), new renditions for her second and fourth albums. In July, she released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), a fresh take on her third album, initially released in 2010.

“Surprise!! 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is on its way to you soon!” Swift wrote in a tweet announcing the project in August.

“The 1989 album changed my life in countless ways, and it fills me with such excitement to announce that my version of it will be out October 27th. To be perfectly honest, this is my most FAVORITE re-record I’ve ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane. I can’t believe they were ever left behind. But not for long!”

Taylor Swift – ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’

1989 is widely considered one of Swift’s most notable projects and won her three Grammy awards, including the highly coveted Album of the Year trophy.

Here is the tracklist of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in full:

1. Welcome to New York (Taylor’s Version)

2. Blank Space (Taylor’s Version)

3. Style (Taylor’s Version)

4. Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version)

5. All You Had To Do Was Stay (Taylor’s Version)

6. Shake It Off (Taylor’s Version)

7. I Wish You Would (Taylor’s Version)

8. Bad Blood (Taylor’s Version)

9. Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)

10. How You Get the Girl (Taylor’s Version)

11. This Love (Taylor’s Version)

12. I Know Places (Taylor’s Version)

13. Clean (Taylor’s Version)

14. Wonderland (Taylor’s Version)

15. You Are In Love (Taylor’s Version)

16. New Romantics (Taylor’s Version)

17. “Slut!”(Taylor’s Version)

18. Say Don’t Go (Taylor’s Version)

19. Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version)

20. Suburban Legends (Taylor’s Version)

21. Is it Over Now? (Taylor’s Version)

In the initial hours after 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was made available to listeners around the world, fans of the star – often dubbed “Swifties” – shared their first takes on social media.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with many praising the quality of Swift’s voice in the re-recorded tracks, compared to the 2014 release.

One fan wrote on X/Twitter: “Taylor’s vocals being so crisp and clear. The backing vocals. The instrumentals. The vault tracks. The pure happiness, freedom and joy. I’m never getting over this.”

Similarly, another excited supporter added: “IT SOUNDS LIKE HER VOICE WENT THROUGH A BRITA FILTER IT’S SO GOOD.”

With the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), it leaves only two albums of six that Swift has yet to re-record: Taylor Swift, her 2006 debut, and Reputation, her sixth album from 2016.