After a failed attempt to regain the masters of her first six albums following the end of her contract with Big Machine, the label on which they were released, Taylor Swift wound up re-recording them through her new deal with Republic Records. The first re-done release arrived last Friday with Fearless (Taylor’s Version), an updated take on her 2008 sophomore album, which also boasted six new songs. In a recent sit-down with People, the singer opened up about her thought process in re-creating the project more than a decade removed from its release.
“In terms of production, I really wanted to stay very loyal to the initial melodies that I had thought of for these songs,” she said. “And so we really did go in and try to create a ‘the same but better’ version. We kept all the same parts that I initially dreamed up for these songs. But if there was any way that we could improve upon the sonic quality, we did… But yeah, I did go in line by line and listen to every single vocal and think, you know, what are my inflections here.” She added, “If I can improve upon it, I did. But I really did want this to be very true to what I initially thought of and what I had initially written. But better. Obviously.”
Shortly after she released Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Swift wrote a touching letter about the album in which she said, “It was an honor to get to be a teenage alongside you.”
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is out now via Republic Records. Get it here.
