Happy, Free, Confused, & Lonely: Taylor Swift's '1989'

Days before Taylor Swift's fifth studio album "1989" was unleashed onto the world, someone over at iTunes in Canada made a big boo-boo by releasing "Track 3" - an eight-second "song" of white noise by Swift that skyrocketed to no. 1 on the iTunes chart. Like clockwork, think pieces across the Internet surfaced, ironically praising the 24-year-old singer for the ambient track, which was really just a placeholder until the album was available for sale on Oct. 27.

Some of the articles posed the question: What if Swift actually did make an experiential album of ambient noise? Some have already taken pop songs to that extreme (like slowing down this Justin Bieber song by 800 percent, transforming a normal three minute pop song into a 35-minute ethereal drone track) and cartoonist David Rees made headlines this week after releasing a mash up album of Swift songs mixed and electro-experimental scientist Aphex Twin's music.

We all know the real Taylor Swift is never going to drop a textural ambient piece and her new album may be as "experimental" as the singer gets. "1989" is Swift's self-described "very first documented, official pop album" where she makes her final transition into top 40 music; pulling her last leg out of the country world and placing it firmly into mainstream music. Her last effort, "Red," was an immaculate record and showed signs that Swift was ready to try something new and take on pop with full force. The album carried the hit singles "22," "I Knew You Were Trouble" and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," which were all produced by pop overlords Max Martin and Shellback.

On "1989" the duo produced and wrote more than twice that number of songs, including lead single "Shake It Off." With Martin and Shellback at the helm, "1989" ends up being an experiment to see how well Swift's aesthetic translates into pop music. But Swift and co. are smart enough to stay clear from some polarizing pop trends, like dark R&B, and hone in on sounds and studio tricks that make pretty much every song on the record a radio friendly wedding jam.

"1989" was named after the year Swift was born and she's said she was inspired by pop music of the late '80s, citing Madonna and Annie Lennox. Though the LP is rooted in those wide-screen synth sounds, Martin, Shellback and Swift make sure "1989" is a contemporary album. There are only a few clear-cut throwback songs, like the brooding "Out of the Woods," which was released as a promo single and produced by fun. / Bleachers' Jack Antonoff, with its rolling Phil Collins drums Taylor's soaring vocals. Most of the tracks on the album only have '80s flourishes - a drum pad here, a cheesy sound effect there.

Still, "1989," works musically and is Swift's catchiest album to date, but it's her least personal. Where "Red" was packed with smart and emotional lyrics of breakup, loss and rise to fame, Swift is reaching for material on her new effort. She writes about her life, including who she's dating (obviously), but Swift has only been linked to One Direction bad boy Harry Styles in the year-and-a-half since "Red." Their relationship was short lived, but he's somehow the muse of a handful of songs on "1989." Other songs are full of cringe-inducing lyrics about moving to New York City, and generic relationship advice.

But she's having too much fun to care about getting deep, like on the love letter to New York City aptly titled "Welcome to New York," a song that appeared online last week and sparked Internet outrage for being a phony characterization of the Big Apple. In the context of the album, it works and sets the mood for "1989": a wide-eye, bright world of optimism, where you and I and our BFF Taylor put away our broken hearts for a little while and just dance and bake cookies with our girlfriends until the sun comes up. It's a place where you can be who you want, love who you want ("boys and boys and girls and girls," she chants at one point) and a place to try new things: It's about as #YOLO as Swift will ever get. New York City apparently likes it enough, Swift is now the metropolis' new Global Welcome Ambassador.

Though Taylor has hammered into us that she's been inspired by late '80s pop, she calls on modern pop stars to serve as her actual muse. On "Blank Space," which is probably going to be the next official single, Martin and Shellback utilize a minimal trap beat that would make Lorde jealous. "All You Had to Do was Stay" features a yelping sample that could have come out of M83's "Midnight City," "Shake It Off" is taken out of the back page of Pharrell's production handbook and Swift sounds like the she's the fourth member of indie sister trio band Haim on "I Wish You Would," her most Fleetwood Mac-y song.

Then there's the Katy Perry dis track, "Bad Blood," which actually sounds like a Katy Perry song. On "Wildest Dreams" she summons the sad-bad-girl power of Lana Del Rey: "He's so tall and handsome as hell, he's so bad but he does it so well. I can see the end as it begins," she sings. Its hook is infectious; clawing at the deep cut LDR track "Without You." "Clean," which closes the standard version of "1989," finds Swift working with forgotten indie goddess Imogen Heap and the duo do their best at recreating the best "Garden State" soundtrack song.

It's "Style" that is the album's sharpest song and recalls the grandest '80s sound. A slick bass is the track's backbone, and cool synths conjure up images of "Miami Vice" and Ryan Gosling in "Drive" as Swift sings about her shitty relationship with Harry Styles - it's the most confident she's ever sounded channeling the swag of Pat Benatar.

"1989" is Swift's "Graduation" by Kanye West, a total pop take over that finds Swift really going for songs that will surely rule the top 40: Billboard is reporting that her album is going to sell a million records in its first week, a huge feat - Beyonce's surprise self-titled album sold around 600,000 digital copies in its first week. But after "Graduation," Kanye put out the experimental, heavily auto-tuned, "808s & Heartbreak," which helped him get to his masterpiece, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." In a way, "1989" is also Swift's "808s" - she's trying new sounds and seeing what sticks, taking a stylistic sharp turn, even if that means some fumbles - "1989" may lack the touching personality that "Red" and "Speak Now" were carved out of, but it's hard to deny the well-produced pure saccharine joy of the 13 tracks.

One thing is for sure though, Swift's next album won't be a rehash of "1989." In a recent interview with the Tennessean, she was asked if fans should be shocked if she made a singer-songwriter record:

"I would not be shocked at all," she told the newspaper. "It would shock me if I didn't. With '1989' I went in a different direction and went with a sonically cohesive pop album. Who knows where it will go next, but it won't be the same."