[protected-iframe id=”c926574547ea5e40ea41dfe679e49048-60970621-23283947″ info=”https://embed.itunes.apple.com/embedded-player/idsa.6d5dd8b6-6082-11e5-94ed-2b0266d32438?” width=”100%” height=”104px” frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]
Ryan Adams‘ full-on cover album of Taylor Swift‘s 1989 is available to stream now, and to help get the word out, Adams went on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 Radio show, along with La Sera guitarist (and album contributor) Todd Wisenbaker. Swift herself also called in (the show touted her as a secret “special guest” last week) to discuss the album.
Adams explained the genesis of the album, noting that he first started covering Swift songs during a lonely holiday season last year.
“I was going through a difficult time in my life, and by the time Christmas rolled around, it was the first time I was back in L.A. during the holidays, alone, on my own.”
Adams says his original 1989 recordings were a lo-fi, solo affair, recorded on a 4-track. Those tapes were eaten when the machine later malfunctioned and Adams decided to re-record them with a full band.
Swift admitted to being a fan of Adams’ covers, particularly “Blank Space” and “How You Get the Girl.”
“They’re not cover songs. They’re re-imaginings of my songs, and you can tell that he was in a different place emotionally than I was. There’s this beautiful aching sadness and longing in this album that doesn’t exist in the original.”
Swift also admitted that she has worked with Adams in his PAX-AM studio, the same place that birthed his pretty great Fall Out Boy EP we’ve all forgotten about. She added that listening to Adams’ covers has led to her accidentally singing his melody over the original.
And for those of you who thought Adams’ covers album was a sign of his own creative well running dry, he says he’s already recorded his next album and that it’s “the most fragile thing” he’s ever done.
Check out the whole interview up top and stream the album below.
(via Pitchfork)
