Post by nexustay on Oct 24, 2014 16:47:27 GMT -5
officially pop, taylor swift embraces being unafraid
NASHVILLE — Having balanced her career between the worlds of country and pop since 2006, Taylor Swift knew it was time to make some choices about her musical direction.
"I needed to pick a lane," says Swift, 24, who’ll release 1989, her first full-fledged pop album, Monday. "If you chase two rabbits, at some point you end up losing them both. I wanted to pick one, and it was so easy to, because I was so naturally gravitating toward this ’80s synth-pop-influenced sound."
With 2012’s Red, she says, “you’d hear mandolin on one track, then a dubstep bass drop on the next song. You’re kind of thinking, are these really on the same album?”
So for 1989, she stuck with Max Martin and Shellback, the production duo that worked on We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and I Knew You Were Trouble, as well as her first producer, Nathan Chapman, who contributes one track. She also collaborated with OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, Imogen Heap and fun.’s Jack Antonoff.
"Everything was about new territory, taking chances, being unafraid," says Antonoff, who worked with Swift on a pair of tracks, Out of the Woods and I Wish You Would. "She is relentlessly pushing herself to be unafraid of taking chances."
So far, fans have embraced those chances. In August, Shake It Off made its debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 and has gone on to sell 2.5 million downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Out of the Woods was last week’s top-selling download, and lead track Welcome to New York, released this week, likely will post similar numbers.
In 2010, Swift’s third album, Speak Now, sold 1.1 million copies in its first week. Two years ago, Red sold 1.2 million. No artist has released an album in 2014 that has sold as much during the entire year. Billboard projects that 1989 will sell 800,000 to 900,000 units, making it the year’s best debut by a factor of two. She could reach the million mark in the second week.
"If Taylor does 800,000, in just one week she could immediately have the best-selling album this year by someone not named Frozen," says Keith Caulfield, Billboard’s associate editor of charts/sales.
Fans of country music shouldn’t see Swift’s pop turn as forsaking the style that helped her rise to fame, though she does believe they should have seen it coming.
"Come on, I Knew You Were Trouble spending six weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts is a bit of a signal flare," she says. "I think people have thought and maybe expected I would go in this direction. I just don’t know if people expected me to be honest about it."
If Swift’s two-year career cycles run true to form, she’ll launch a world tour next year, followed by another album in 2016. By that time, the still-developing singer/songwriter could be headed in a completely different musical direction.
"I sort of see my creative decisions having a bit of a pendulum swing to them," she says. "If I go in one direction, most likely, on the next album, I’ll go in a completely opposite direction.
"Nothing’s out of the question. Except maybe for me making a rap album. Because I don’t think I’d be very good at it."
source
NASHVILLE — Having balanced her career between the worlds of country and pop since 2006, Taylor Swift knew it was time to make some choices about her musical direction.
"I needed to pick a lane," says Swift, 24, who’ll release 1989, her first full-fledged pop album, Monday. "If you chase two rabbits, at some point you end up losing them both. I wanted to pick one, and it was so easy to, because I was so naturally gravitating toward this ’80s synth-pop-influenced sound."
With 2012’s Red, she says, “you’d hear mandolin on one track, then a dubstep bass drop on the next song. You’re kind of thinking, are these really on the same album?”
So for 1989, she stuck with Max Martin and Shellback, the production duo that worked on We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and I Knew You Were Trouble, as well as her first producer, Nathan Chapman, who contributes one track. She also collaborated with OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, Imogen Heap and fun.’s Jack Antonoff.
"Everything was about new territory, taking chances, being unafraid," says Antonoff, who worked with Swift on a pair of tracks, Out of the Woods and I Wish You Would. "She is relentlessly pushing herself to be unafraid of taking chances."
So far, fans have embraced those chances. In August, Shake It Off made its debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 and has gone on to sell 2.5 million downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Out of the Woods was last week’s top-selling download, and lead track Welcome to New York, released this week, likely will post similar numbers.
In 2010, Swift’s third album, Speak Now, sold 1.1 million copies in its first week. Two years ago, Red sold 1.2 million. No artist has released an album in 2014 that has sold as much during the entire year. Billboard projects that 1989 will sell 800,000 to 900,000 units, making it the year’s best debut by a factor of two. She could reach the million mark in the second week.
"If Taylor does 800,000, in just one week she could immediately have the best-selling album this year by someone not named Frozen," says Keith Caulfield, Billboard’s associate editor of charts/sales.
Fans of country music shouldn’t see Swift’s pop turn as forsaking the style that helped her rise to fame, though she does believe they should have seen it coming.
"Come on, I Knew You Were Trouble spending six weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts is a bit of a signal flare," she says. "I think people have thought and maybe expected I would go in this direction. I just don’t know if people expected me to be honest about it."
If Swift’s two-year career cycles run true to form, she’ll launch a world tour next year, followed by another album in 2016. By that time, the still-developing singer/songwriter could be headed in a completely different musical direction.
"I sort of see my creative decisions having a bit of a pendulum swing to them," she says. "If I go in one direction, most likely, on the next album, I’ll go in a completely opposite direction.
"Nothing’s out of the question. Except maybe for me making a rap album. Because I don’t think I’d be very good at it."
source