Taylor Swift, 31, has been busy re-recording her first six albums and she’s given each line of Fearless a thorough looking over to ensure it stays true to its original form, while allowing for some minor tweaks here and there.
Ensuring Fearless got the time it deserved
Swift spoke with PEOPLE (the TV Show) recently about her time in the studio, talking about devoting time to the re-do of her first album.
“In terms of production, I really wanted to stay very loyal to the initial melodies that I had thought of for these songs. 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.”
“We just kind of took all the knowledge that we’ve acquired over decades of playing this music and applied that to it. But yeah, I did go in line by line and listen to every single vocal and think, you know, what are my inflections here. 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.”
The release of the newly-mastered and recorded album occurred today, much to the delight of fans, and contains six new songs, including one sung with Maren Morris.
Social media war
Swift was enraged when her record label Big Machine was bought out by Scooter Braun‘s Ithaca Holdings in 2019 and took to social media to share her despair about the take-over, later claiming that Big Machine’s Scott Borchetta and Braun were preventing her from performing old songs or re-recording any old albums.
A spokesperson for Big Machine disputed the claims and responded to Swift’s post. “As Taylor Swift’s partner for over a decade, we were shocked to see her tumblr statements yesterday based on false information. At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. Taylor, the narrative you have created does not exist.”
“All we ask is to have a direct and honest conversation. To date, not one of the invitations to speak with us and work through this has been accepted. Rumors fester in the absence of communication. Let’s not have that continue here. We share the collective goal of giving your fans the entertainment they both want and deserve.”
Braun also responded to the claims and pleaded with the singer to stop her social media war.
“Since your public statement last week there have been numerous death threats directed at my family,” he said.
“This morning I spoke out for the first time saying I wouldn’t participate in a social media war. However I came home tonight to find my wife had received a phone call threatening the safety of our children…I write this now only after a deep breath and much reflection. I am certain there is no situation ever worth jeopardizing anyone’s safety.”
Braun concluded the post by asking the singer to hep resolve the issue.
“I assume this was not your intention but it is important that you understand that your words carry a tremendous amount of weight and that your message can be interpreted by some in different ways. While disappointed that you have remained silent after being notified by your attorneys four days ago of these ongoing threats, I’m still hopeful we can fix this.”