Taylor Swift’s long awaited pop debut “1989” will be available in one week. The first single off the record, “Shake It Off” kicked off the “1989” insanity last month and solidified the songstress’ spot among today’s pop heavy hitters. “Out Of The Woods” was released last week, and while it is not the next single off the album, Swift says the song best represents “1989.”

Swift has captivated audiences with her lyrical genius. And with a transition to pop, it would be easy to fall into the trap of over-produced, mindless repetitive ditties that flood today’s Top 40. But “Out of The Woods” suggests that Swift will stick with what she knows — making her experiences universally relatable with a catchy tune. Swift’s pop album is long overdue and will no doubt maintain her musical integrity.

When Swift burst on to the scene in 2006 she impressed critics and listeners alike with her eponymous album. Different from many contemporary country artists, Swift was a young teen making music for other teens about, you guessed it, being a teenager. The 16-year-old flaunted her country roots and sang songs such as “Tim McGraw” and “Teardrops on My Guitar.” “Fearless” followed in 2008 and introduced chorus-driven hits like “You Belong With Me,” which hinted that she had aims larger than the Nashville scene.  

Swift’s transition from country to pop has been imminent. “Speak Now” was the first album that Swift wrote and composed by herself, which debuted in 2010 and included country/pop crossover hits like “Mine” and “Mean.” Swift’s last album “Red,” further muddled her genre classification with “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” “22” and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” helping her reach her largest audience yet.

Swift has garnered the adoration of listeners worldwide because her music is genuine. Not only does Swift play the guitar, banjo, ukulele and piano, she writes and composes the majority of her music. She has the ability to reflect on lost love with the nostalgia and wisdom of a more tenured artist, composing “you call me up again just to break me like a promise/so casually cruel in the name of being honest.” And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. In her “Fearless” album review, Jodi Rosen of Rolling Stone said, “Swift is a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture.”

However, this was not reflected in her first single off her new album. The first release from “1989,” “Shake it Off” was infectious but left something to be desired. As Forest Wickman points out in an Oct. 14 Slate article, “Shake it Off” is to “1989” as “22” is to “Red.” These sing-a-long, get on your feet and dance anthems are not concessions of Swift’s talents, they are simply lighter fare. But “Out of The Woods” is the polar opposite of “Shake it Off” in respect to her lyrical content, and I think “Out of The Woods” is representative of the quality we can expect in “1989.”

The song is mature and thoughtful, heavily influenced by late ‘80s synthpop, and a collaboration with Jack Antonoff, the guitarist for Fun. and Lena Dunham’s boyfriend. The chanting chorus, stacked drums and iconic Swift imagery follows the anguish of a relationship on the precipice of a split, which has led Swift fans and One Direction fans to perpetually hash out which details assure them “Out of The Woods” is about Harry Styles. Swift’s knack for vivid tales of heartbreak that pang the heart of even the casual listener is relentless.

Comparing “Out of The Woods” directly to “Tim McGraw” would be near impossible. As Swift has grown older, her music has changed as well. Swift may have ditched her prairie dresses, her innocence and the banjo, but she has held on to the talents that will make her pop career just as successful as her country one.

Erin G. Kelly is a senior broadcast and digital journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at egkelly@syr.edu.

Published on October 20, 2014 at 12:01 am