Taylor Swift is your best friend, and my best friend, and millions of other fans’ best friends. She’s created a cult following of millions of people, harnessing the power of parasociality to sell countless records and tickets. Anyone that writes about Taylor includes several references to her lyrics, and probably some allusions to her personal life too, leaving easter eggs mirroring Taylor’s own love of callbacks. Her music is modern folklore, not just for her way with storytelling, but for its ubiquity, permeating every facet of pop culture.
Last October, Taylor Swift released her re-recorded version of 1989, still her most popular album to date. It’s still a great, if exceptionally frontloaded album, but one nearly impossible to recreate. 1989 superproducer Max Martin isn’t on board, so it’s up to her long-time engineer Christopher Rowe to craft soundalikes. Like the other pop-era re-records, it’s fascinating, but ultimately diminishing returns; they often sound like cheap karaoke recreations.