Many words describe pop music’s reigning “Mastermind,” and “calculating” is certainly one of them. On the latest (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault), Taylor Swift reminds her prospective beau: “I Can See You.” Endearingly creepy, it evokes 90s pop in its questionably yet catchy, almost-too-honest expressions of love lust. In a rare show of seduction, Swift strings us along on a guitar-driven journey through her secret, 20-year-old desires, that, like this song (until now) were locked away in a vault. Its Taylor-studded music video only adds to the mystery, making for a surprisingly sexy summer single from Swift.

Watch the video, stream “I Can See You” by Taylor Swift, or order Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on vinyl.

In celebration of summer, the staff at THE 97 has compiled a playlist containing some of our favorite summer songs, from then and now. Each day we will reveal one song, rotating daily between past and present with pairings from 1998 and 2023, for a total of 97 days/songs. Since we love nostalgia, we’re celebrating summer songs from 1998 as they turn 25, alongside new songs that we feel deserve some shine. Pairings could be thematic, sonic, or based connections between the artists.

Check out our full “THE SUMMER 97 (1998 x 2023)” playlist here.

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Strike Two: “…Ready For It?”

Why is Taylor Swift rapping and who told her the white-girl rapping route was a wise move in 2017?

This isn’t looking good. First there was the strange, vindictive, “I’m So Sexy”-sampling first single “Look What You Made Me Do.” Now Taylor Swift’s follow-up single is not sounding any better. “…Ready For It?” features Swift rapping on the verses like a mid-late 2000’s Ke$ha and Fergie. The beat is aggressive like a pounding dance remix or something off Kanye West’s 2013 album Yeezus. When the pre-chorus/chorus hits though, the beat breaks and possesses a sweetness akin to the sound off a standard Swift record. Lyrically it’s a who’s who of references from old Swift songs that will surely please dedicated fans. Beyond that, it’s a dated sound and tired format.

Listen to “…Ready For It?”

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Imagine if the new Adele album had been sub-par. What would happen? A “Skyfall” is probably the best guess. One has to wonder what the album she scrapped sounds like. Maybe one day the world will be privy to it, but for now, let’s bask in the magnificence that is 25.

21 is the first album to go diamond after release since Usher’s Confessions, which was released in 2004. No album released since then has come close to hitting that mark. However, 25 has reached the highest first week sales of an album in history (both in the US & UK), and just became the first album in US sales history to sell 1 million copies in a second week. Adele is a monster. She captivates and drives fans to record stores. The album isn’t even streaming, and it’s not slowing her down. At. All.

From the opening piano lines of “Hello”, it’s crystal clear that the body of work to follow is going to be big. As the song crescendos, instrumentation fills in, and Adele’s voice howls until “hello from the other side” is seared into your memory. It’s a new generation of power ballad that Celine Dion probably wishes she could have gotten her hands on. From there, she takes the one obscure turn stylistically on “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)”. It’s a guitar riff she’s had since something on Amy Winehouse’s Frank inspired her to create it, but was finally inspired to build on it while working on this album (with a little inspiration from Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble”). It’s a fun, bouncy, kiss-off with a perfect piece of contemporary pop thanks to producer Max Martin.

“I Miss You” is dark and haunting, with drums that are reminiscent, most recently, of Beyoncé’s “Haunted,” and both have a similarly haunting yet sensual quality and sing of yearning. An interesting turning point comes in the form of “When We Were Young.” Adele has called it her favorite song that she’s ever written, and it is a stellar composition. However, it feels somewhat incomplete for the pop world. The chorus sounds more like a pre-chorus on an initial listen. Further listens distinguish the pre-chorus and actual chorus, but there’s still something to be desired.

She closes side one with “Remedy”, a beautiful flowing piano ballad. This is one of two on this album that recall 21‘s “Turning Tables” and “Take It All.” Topically it’s a sign of where her life is now: on 21, these piano ballads were broken-hearted, relationship enders. Now, she sings confidently “when the pain cuts you deep… just look and you will see… I will be your remedy.” Progress is a beautiful thing.

Side 2 picks up with “Water Under The Bridge,” an ode to her current beau and baby-daddy. This one is a foot-stomper, with a touch of gospel charge in there. The second side is where things become especially memorable. “River Lea” is an homage to the river that flows through her hometown, and she alludes to its’ polluted waters to being the cause for her failures in relationships. The Rick Rubin-produced song is structured in an interesting fashion, with stripped-back, slowed-down verses, and a chorus that picks up and captivates. From there she digs in with her second piano ballad, “Love In The Dark.” Again, this one very closely recalls “Turning Tables,” lush orchestral arrangement and all.

The clear standout song of this album is the one added to the track list 3 days before mixing, “Million Years Ago.” The acoustic ballad is an explosion of nostalgia and melancholy. It’s written in a fashion that makes it timeless. Anyone from 15 to 25 and 45 to 85 (and in between and beyond) can relate to “I know I’m not the only one, who regrets the things they’ve done. Sometimes I just feel it’s only me, who never became who they thought they’d be.” She sings it so soulfully and emotionally, it’s difficult not to stop, listen and have a flashback to a regrettable moment.

Hearing that Adele not only collaborated with Bruno Mars, but that their collaboration also made the album was a bit surprising. Regardless, their output, “All I Ask,” is another standout track. She sings of a relationship’s end, asking on that if this moment is it, make it count. She painfully sings “it matters how this ends, cause what if I never love again?” The song crescendos with a perfectly placed key change, allowing Adele to vocally drive this home run out of the park. The album’s closer “Sweetest Devotion” is an ode to her son, Angelo. It’s the perfect upbeat unconditional love song to bookmark not only this body of work, but also Adele’s personal snapshot of 25.

Grade:
95/97

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Taylor Swift announced to the world that the newly released 1989 was a straight up pop album. Few people probably thought she had ever been making something other than pop music. Swift’s song construction has always been pop, and apart from country instruments that were usually mixed in the background, most of her production hasn’t been identifiable as country. Swift also promotes product like a pop star. She has been everywhere this week; her marketing approach is the exact opposite of what Beyoncé did with her last album, but it will likely be just as if not more effective. Swift’s victim persona has become troubling, but at her best (see “All Too Well,” “White Horse,” “Dear John,” “Sparks Fly”) she’s shown a real gift for detailed lyrics, clever turns of phrase, and/or stellar song construction.

The main problem with 1989 is that for the most part Swift has gotten away from those gifts. Swift recently derided “brainless” pop, but 1989 might be the closest she has come to making just that. Some of the songs ride the current trend of repetitive choruses instead of taking advantage of Swift’s gift for melody. Many songs also lack the attention to detail that has become her trademark. “Welcome to New York” is surprisingly faceless, and the chorus of “Welcome to New York/It’s been waiting for you” doesn’t do anything to side step a “brainless” tag. “All He Had To Do Was Stay” is yet another in her line of songs about circumspect men, but it lacks the revealing insight “All Too Well” contained. “Shake It Off” is similar to songs past songs of hers like “Better Than Revenge” and “Mean” in its defensiveness that contends Swift’s story is the version to be told. “Shake It Off,” too, borrows from the recent trends of horn blasts and repetitive choruses and thus undermines Swift’s lyric about dancing on her own.

Still, 1989 is Swift’s most focused effort and there are definite highlights. “Out of the Woods” is terrific. Its verses have the kind of detailed writing that separates Swift from her peers, and the modulations remind one of her great hit “I Knew You Were Trouble.” The song might have been even better if it had a less repetitive chorus, though. “Out of the Woods” and “I Wish You Would” were made with Jack Antonoff, and they show that the two of them have been listening to a lot of Haim. “Bad Blood” has a nice Katy Perry biting (literally and figuratively) stomp and chant, and the buzzy, Lorde-esque “Blank Space” has a congenial self-effacing quality. “I Know Places” fuses co-writer Ryan Tedder’s standard elements with Pat Benatar.

In the end, Swift made a pop record that sounds like other pop records. Maybe Swift wants to beat pop at its own game, but great pop music has always been about personality and on that front 1989 is a bit too bland.

Grade:

63/97

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Taylor Swift has been moving in more of a pop direction with each album release, and apparently with the upcoming 1989 she has made the full-blown transition. Swift is previewing the new set with lead single “Shake It Off.” The track has the driving ’80s beat needed for immediate impact, and it contains the type of horn blasts that have been prominent in recent hits by Macklemore & Lewis, Jason Derulo, and Ariana Grande. If it all feels a little too rote, too mechanical, there’s a reason; this was built to be a hit.

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