We’ve been hearing about it for what seems like forever, and now it’s finally time to give a full listen to one of the most anticipated releases of the Fall season: Ryan Adams’ own interpretation of Taylor Swift’s latest smash album, 1989. The singer-songwriter released the full album cover late Sunday night, and it’s likely that nobody is more excited to hear the collection than miss Swift herself.
Swift told EW in a statement that the project was “such an honor.” She said, “Ryan Adams is one of the artists who shaped my songwriting. My favorite part of his style of creating music is his ability to bleed aching vulnerability into it, and that’s what he’s done with his cover project of my album 1989. When I first heard that Ryan was going to be covering my entire album, I couldn’t believe it. It’s such an honor that he would want to take my stories and lyrics and give them a new life. He’s gotten some of the best musicians together to record this album and if the clips he’s released are any indication, this is going to be something really special.”
On first listen, the record is astoundingly good. It’s hardly the “Smiths-style covers” summarization Adams himself gave the collection, but rather a downtempo and gorgeously produced record that cuts out the pop fat and replaces it with a subtle melancholy wrapped in muted heartache.
We’re sold.
