Taylor Swift鈥檚 '1989' sounds familiar. Here's why.
Taylor Swift鈥檚 full-on transition to pop with "1989鈥� brings her into a network of stars who share the producers that have touched many of today鈥檚 radio hits.
聽鈥�1989,鈥� released Monday morning from Big Machine Records, is now the best-selling iTunes album. Her first single from the CD, 鈥淪hake It Off,鈥� opened with a No. 1 ranking in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.听
But you鈥檙e not alone in thinking that these fresh tracks sound familiar, even on first listen.
The producers behind Ms. Swift鈥檚 鈥�1989鈥� release have handled other explosive singles, too: Ellie Goulding鈥檚 鈥淏urn,鈥� 鈥淲e Are Young鈥� from fun., and Gavin DeGraw鈥檚 鈥淣ot Over You.鈥�
Max Martin co-produced nine tracks of the 13-song album. He began working with Swift in her 2012 album 鈥淩ed,鈥� co-producing the album鈥檚 first single 鈥� 鈥淲e Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.鈥� (He鈥檚 also responsible co-writing and co-producing 鈥淪hake It Off鈥�)
The Swedish producer has had decades of experience with pop music. His influence reaches back to Britney Spears鈥檚 1998 single 鈥溾��.鈥� 聽And he鈥檚 no stranger to rebranding pop stars. Kelly Clarkson won over hearts on American Idol, but 鈥�,鈥� a 2004 track, solidified her place in pop, allowing her to move beyond the reality TV show fame.听
Mr. Martin and Johan Schuster (aka Shellback), collaborated on seven of Martin鈥檚 nine tracks for Swift鈥檚 new album. Shellback, a Swedish songwriter, producer, and musician, has also written for Pink, Maroon 5, and One Direction.
Ryan Tedder, Noel Zancanella and Swift produced the album鈥檚 third single, 鈥淲elcome To New York.鈥� Mr. Tedder is best known for being the lead singer of OneRepublic and wrote 鈥溾�� for the five-man band. The hit song ranked on nine different 2007 year-end charts.
Unlike the keep-jumping-until-the-last-beat songs, 鈥淐lean,鈥� a slower track that draws on themes of renewal, closes Swift鈥檚 album. 鈥淎nd by morning, gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean,鈥� she sings, repeating the last line as the track fades. The electronic dream-pop comes courtesy of Imogen Heap, who co-wrote and co-produced the track with Swift.
Ms. Heap came into the mainstream with 鈥淗ide and Seek,鈥� which played in the second season finale of Fox鈥檚 teen drama 鈥淭he O.C.鈥�
鈥淭his Love鈥� is the only track that Swift wrote alone, a shift from prior albums. She was the sole author on nine of 16 songs on 鈥淩ed,鈥� and for the 2010 鈥淪peak Now鈥� release, she wrote and composed all 14 songs.
聽that she was driven to collaborate more heavily in 鈥�1989鈥� after reflecting on 鈥淩ed.鈥� She said her favorite song on 鈥淩ed鈥� was 鈥淚 Knew You Were Trouble,鈥� a single that sold more than 416,000 copies in its first week. Martin and Shellback wrote the song with Swift.
鈥淎nd I started kind of thinking about that and going, 'All right. I learned a lot when I was making聽Red. I collaborated with a lot of people. And I kind of learned who I wanted to go back to, and those collaborations were all with the pop producers and writers that I had been working with.鈥�
Last week, 鈥�1989鈥� nabbed聽largely positive reviews聽from critics, but fans have weighed in since the release online, sharing their thoughts on Twitter.
