Taylor Swift: Is her album '1989' a successful move to pop?
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Molly Driscoll Staff Writer
Taylor Swift鈥檚 new album 鈥�1989鈥� isn鈥檛 coming out until Oct. 27, but fans have already heard some of the songs off the album and some critics have already weighed in.听
Songs such as 鈥淪hake It Off,鈥� 鈥淥ut of the Woods,鈥� and 鈥淲elcome to New York鈥� have already made their debut 鈥� the music video for 鈥淪hake鈥� premiered as Swift announced her new album during a Yahoo livestream on Aug. 18. During the livestream, Swift called 鈥�1989鈥� her 鈥渇irst documented, official pop album.鈥�
The singer spoke more about the upcoming album recently in an interview with .听
鈥淭his time I'm kind of just doing whatever I feel like,鈥� Swift said. 鈥淚 felt like making a pop album, so I did. I felt like being very honest and unapologetic about it, so I did鈥� This album was made completely and solely on my terms, with no one else's opinion factoring in, no one else's agenda factoring in. I didn't feel that I was having to think too hard about the musical direction. In the past, I've always tried to make sure that I was maintaining a stronghold on two different genres, and this time I just had to think about one, which was creatively a relief. It was nice to be honest about what I was making.鈥澛�
The album is getting mainly positive reviews from the critics who have weighed in ahead of its release. Jon Caramanica of the wrote that 鈥�1989鈥� is 鈥渇ull of expertly constructed, slightly neutered songs about heartbreak鈥� breezily effective鈥� 鈥榃elcome to New York鈥� [is] a shimmery, if slightly dim celebration of the freedom of getting lost in Gotham.鈥澛�
writer Rob Sheffield wrote, 鈥淭he best moments come toward the end [with] 鈥楬ow You Get the Girl鈥欌�� 鈥楾his Love鈥欌�� [and] the killer finale, 鈥楥lean鈥欌�� [it鈥檚] deeply weird, feverishly emotional, wildly enthusiastic.鈥�
critic Elysa Gardner awarded it three-and-a-half out of four stars.
鈥淥n聽1989, she matches deceptively simple, irresistibly catchy melodies with lyrics that can seem by turns confessional and elusive, playful and aching,鈥� she wrote.
贬辞飞别惫别谤,听 writer Adam Markovitz gave the new album a B, writing that 鈥渢oo often on聽1989 [Swift is] trying to win at somebody else's game, whittling her words down to generic love stuff over flowy synthesizers鈥� and found the song 鈥淲elcome to New York鈥� to be 鈥渦nderripe,鈥� though he called 鈥淪hake It Off鈥� 鈥渒inetic鈥� and wrote that 鈥�'鈥橧 Wish You Would鈥� and '鈥橭ut of the Woods鈥� [are] ballads with driving beats that complement her cinematic verses.鈥�
