Swifties are rejoicing today because Taylor Swift’s latest re-recorded album, Red (Taylor’s Version), is out now. Aside from new versions of the songs that appeared on the original album, there are some previously unheard tracks as well, including the Phoebe Bridgers collaboration “Nothing New.” Swift was on Late Night With Seth Meyers last night, and on the show, she told the host about Bridgers’ heartwarming response after Swift asked her to collaborate.
Swift spoke about about her process for asking artists to work with her and gave some background about what “Nothing New” means to her, saying:
“I do send a very long text that I’ve crafted over many days, and I’ll send the song because I don’t want them to ever feel pressured to say yes to something creatively if it doesn’t gel with what they want to do. With Phoebe, I reached out and I sent her this song called ‘Nothing New,’ which I wrote when I was 22. It’s really, really special to me because it was the first time I was not a shiny new artist. I was on my fourth album and I felt like… I think this happens to a lot of artists, where they have their breakthrough moment, and the moment after that is really hard for them because they’re just not getting the same… it’s like the first time you walk into a room at a party and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, Kevin’s here!’ […] Then the next time you walk in, they’re like, ”Sup?’ And then the third time you walk in, they’re like, ‘Um, so what do you want to do tomorrow…,’ and they’re just talking. But I’m here, and you used to… so I was dealing with that moment in my life. So that song is really special to me.”
Swift continued, “I sent it to Phoebe and said, ‘It would mean the world to me if you would do this as a duet,’ because I really wanted another female artist who I loved to sing this with me, because I think it has a very female artist perspective, that we go through that experience. And her response was, ‘I’ve been waiting for this text my entire life.'”
Bridgers was probably similarly hyped to hear what Swift said about her before launching into the story of asking her to collab, as she told Meyers, “Phoebe Bridgers is one of my favorite artists in the world. I just think she’s… if she sings it, I will listen to it. I love her voice and I also love that she’s a very funny person.”
Meanwhile, Bridgers shared some thoughts about Red (Taylor’s Version) today, tweeting, “I was 18 when red came out. How is this real.” Bridgers also previously said of working with Swift, “It’s just been a dream. I just am so excited to have people take it at face value the day that it comes out, because I got teary recording it. I just couldn’t be more excited. […] I think that she is an incredible businessperson and an incredible writer. What she’s been able to build just from writing adeptly from a young age is insane.”
https://twitter.com/phoebe_bridgers/status/1459075614468558848
Watch Swift talk about Bridgers on Late Night above.
Red (Taylor’s Version) is out now via Republic. Get it here.
