To judge Taylor Swift’s fourth album, Red, based on the first single ’We are Never Ever Getting Back Together’, would be misleading. In an album she would later describe as a patchwork quilt of different sounds, there was no one song that characterised the entire sonic experience. This made for an exciting album that catered to all moods and tastes, an album where a song such as ‘I Knew you were trouble’, can be followed by ‘All too well’. She described this album as a project that came out of intense love, frustration, jealousy, confusion and semi-toxic relationships, setting up an expectation of an album that lived in the extremes.
And that she delivered- both lyrically and sonically. The most striking example was ‘I knew you were trouble’, where Taylor experiments with dub-step which sonically mirrors the chaotic and confusing feeling of knowing that you got yourself into a troubled relationship.
Looking at the track listing on Red, the immediate striking thing is the lack of sonic cohesion between the songs. This is arguably a strength of Red as it serves to musically emulate the volatile, intense and fleeting emotions that come with growing up. The period between late teens and early adulthood are confusing and it is possible to feel you ‘Never Ever wanna get back together’ with someone one minute and beg them to ‘stay stay stay’ the next.
The beginning track, State of Grace juxtaposes lyrical intimacy like ‘twin fire signs/four blue eyes’ with gigantic U2-esque drums. The title track, Red lyrically pairs emotions with colours with metaphors that paint a vivid picture of the emotions of being in love for those who (like Taylor) feel things so deeply. Sonically it matches the extremes of emotions through its production that incorporates four-on the floor beat, vocal effects and steel guitars. Treacherous and All Too Well showcase Taylor’s craftsmanship, in her ability to make her music mirror the development of strong emotions: both start from a place of subdued feeling and crescendo arena rock in communicating intense emotions.
The Deluxe version of Red feature three songs, which, in a lesser artist would have made the cut in the main album. ‘The Moment I knew’ paints a picture of the heartbreaking nature of being stood up, betraying Taylor’s country roots, in which lyrically specificity is still at the core at what she does.
‘Girl at Home’ provides an refreshing story in the world of scantily dressed pop stars and is certainly one mum’s would approve of. While artists can argue they are not meant to be raising children, their music does hold power, and sending a message of the importance of loyalty is one that will certainly have positive results on teenage girls.
Perhaps Taylor’s greatest ability in songwriting is her ability to sonically match the emotion she is singing about. Bridges get louder and wordier as her emotions heighten, like in Treacherous or The Moment I knew. Hitting the ground features notes that jump up and down like in I Knew You Were Trouble. Teasing sounds like children’s ‘na na na na na’ like ‘Everybody knows that’ in Girl at Home.
With 16 songs in just the main album the only drawback of Red is its length, with several ‘throwaway’ tracks. It seems Taylor fairs better on her own than with the likes of Ed Sheeran or Gary Lightbody who don’t add much.
Watching Taylor’s evolution has been interesting and at this stage she has the option to either go full on pop or continue with her country roots. Whatever she chooses to do next, it can be guaranteed that she wont go half way.
Essential Tracks: Red, Treacherous, All Too Well and I Knew You Were Trouble
