Album Preview: Red (Taylor’s Version)

by The Cowl Editor on November 4, 2021

Arts & Entertainment

Album Preview: Red (Taylor’s Version)

Fans Ready to Feel “Happy, Free, Confused, and Lonely in the Best Way”

Olivia Riportella ’25

Swifties: the time is near. Red (Taylor’s Version) will officially be out next week. For those who are not Swifties, do not worry: here is everything you need to know about Taylor Swift’s latest re-recorded album.

Swift is adamant that musicians own their own work, and acquiring such ownership has been an overlooked struggle which artists often face in the music industry. She has been busy re-recording six—that is right, six—of her nine studio albums recorded with Big Machine Records, since the rights to the master versions of them were sold to Scooter Braun. Braun proceeded to sell the masters to an investment group for payout. Swift claims that she was not given the opportunity to purchase them herself, and to make the best of this bad deal, she has decided to re-record these “stolen” works, carefully re-creating an astounding 25 to 30 songs per album.

Red, released in October 2012, is Swift’s fourth studio and features 16 tracks. Upon release, Red was a massive success, with smash-hit singles such as “22,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Notably, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” landed Swift her first career Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single. Red debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 171 weeks while also selling 1.21 million copies.

Red (Taylor’s Version) will feature a whopping 30 tracks with nine bonus songs from the vault. One of these tracks is “All Too Well (10 Minute Version),” which is the original demo of the heartbreaking album classic, “All Too Well.” Fans have been eager to hear this version for years, and they are finally getting it after many teasers and hints. Swift released the full album tracklist after testing her fans with a word search that contained the names of the new tracks’ titles. There are some big-name collaborations featured on these vault tracks, such as Phoebe Bridgers, Chris Stapleton, and longtime Swift collaborator Ed Sheeran.

This re-record will be the first out of the four albums Swift has released in the last year and a half that will be released on a vinyl format on the same day that it will be released in digital formats.

Red (Taylor’s Version) will be released on Nov. 12, 2021 This date is a full week earlier than the original one she set, Nov. 19, 2021. Fans have speculated that the change came because Swift learned that Adele planned to release her upcoming album, 30, on the 19th, although neither artist has confirmed these rumors.

In a June statement, Swift wrote, “I’ve always said that the world is a different place for the heartbroken. It moves on a different axis, at a different speed. Time skips backwards and forwards fleetingly. The heartbroken might go through thousands of micro-emotions a day, trying to figure out how to get through it without picking up the phone to hear that old familiar voice. In the land of heartbreak, moments of strength, independence, and devil-may-care rebellion are intricately woven together with grief, paralyzing vulnerability and hopelessness. Imagining your future might always take you on a detour back to the past. And this is all to say, the next album I’ll be releasing is my version of Red.”

Needless to say, fans should prepare to be taken on an emotional rollercoaster with Red (Taylor’s Version).

Album Review: Lorde’s Solar Power

by The Cowl Editor on October 7, 2021

Arts & Entertainment

Album Review: Lorde’s Solar Power

The Personal Growth of the Artist and Her Listeners

Talia Rueda ’23

Lorde came into the music industry in 2013 in full force. She offered a distinctive music style to the world of Tumblr-lovers while also being highly relatable. Her first album, titled Pure Heroine, gave listeners the iconic singles “Royals” and “Ribs” that still evoke the utmost emotion today, even after fans have graduated from the grunge-Tumblr era. Lorde’s first album did exactly what it was meant to do as she entered the industry, which was to make her mark as a blossoming artist. She was young, and so were her listeners, who were displaying their emotions on social media for the first time. Indeed, in several ways, the artist and her listeners have grown up together.

This was certainly evident with Lorde’s second album, Melodrama, which blessed listeners’ ears in 2017. Fans saw a new chapter of the singer’s life, one with a less innocent point of view. The album’s title was a superb fit for its content, and the artist successfully appealed to listeners’ emotions. Something was different this time around: Lorde was growing up and learning to navigate the brutality of being a young woman.

So, what stage of life are Lorde and her fans at with her third album, four years later? Its title offers a clear indication of the answer to this question.

Solar Power was released on Aug. 20, 2021. Listeners were anxious to see what Lorde was going to make them feel this time. What many have probably found, though, is that Lorde did not have to make them feel anything: they were already on the same page.

The album demonstrates a significant amount of growth from her last release four long years ago. This did not come as a surprise. Not only had Lorde taken four years to release a new project, but she also removed herself from the grid in the meantime, disappearing from both social media and the public. Avid followers know that she took time to reflect, perhaps on her grief as shown on Melodrama, or maybe on climate change as she traveled from New Zealand to Antarctica.

One thing is clear from her new release—Lorde seems truly content and untroubled. In a departure from her past albums, her lyrics and production have a new sense of freedom, and she seems to want her listeners to feel the same delight she has been experiencing. For instance, Solar Power’s second single, “Stoned at the Nail Salon,” contains lyrics expressing a carefreeness that seems so different from the intensity of Melodrama. These lines read, “Cause all the music you loved at sixteen, you’ll grow out of / And all the times they will change, it’ll all come around / I don’t know / Maybe I’m just / Maybe I’m just stoned at the nail salon again.”

These lines seem to perfectly capture Lorde’s internal growth. Indeed, “Stoned at the Nail Salon” in particular discusses how her mindset has changed from when she was 16 years old. She also acknowledges that it is okay to grow apart from the habits and interests of one’s youth.

In addition to the lyrical differences between the artist’s earlier work and her latest release, the production of Solar Power takes an easier approach. The music itself is much more simple and reserved in its organization. Lorde even allows some harmonies from other artists on this album, including iconic indie singers Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo. In these and other aspects of the album, from lyrics to harmonies, it is clear that Lorde has become significantly lighter and seems glad to share this radiance with listeners.

Lorde’s newfound perspective, as expressed on Solar Power, embodies the new chapter of life that she is in. After years of privacy and remoteness, she is back to showcase how she has healed.

Many of Lorde’s fans have felt the emotions expressed on her highly personal first and second albums, drawing connections between her life and theirs. Her listeners have always been on the same page as her. Solar Power is different, though. If fans did not already feel a connection to the relief that Lorde has experienced, they will after listening to the album. The artist has chosen to nurture healing and peace in her own life, and the album’s therapeutic softness may do the same for listeners.

A Preview of Ed Sheeran’s Anticipated New Album

by The Cowl Editor on September 3, 2021

Arts & Entertainment

A Preview of Ed Sheeran’s Anticipated New Album

The Musician Returns to the Spotlight With ‘=’

By Grace O’Connor ’22

Ed Sheeran is once again in the spotlight, this time with the anticipation surrounding the Oct. 29 release of his new album, ‘=.’ It has been four years since he released his last traditional album, ‘÷,’ so fans are excitedly awaiting the day that they can enjoy his newest release.

The Guardian describes how “Sheeran had trailed the album with an image of a chrysalis, with butterflies featuring on the album cover itself. Speaking on Instagram Live while on holiday with his family, he said the imagery represents ‘new life – I’ve been through, over the last four years, different experiences in life, including getting married, having a kid, losing a friend.”

Evidently, these major life events have given Sheeran plenty of inspiration for ‘=.’ Fans and music critics alike are expecting it to be an impactful record and a strong representation of Sheeran’s talent based on the previews the musician has offered so far.

On Aug. 25, Sheeran performed a small show at hmv Empire in Coventry, England. He introduced two love songs, “First Times” and “Overpass Graffiti.” The hit-heavy set also featured recent singles “Bad Habits” and “Visiting Hours.” A close examination of the lyrics and composition of these songs reveals that they were put together with focus and contemplation. Sheeran reflects on small, impactful moments, turning them into works of art that are both meaningful to him and relatable to fans around the world.

‘=’ features 14 new songs. Interestingly, the album’s final tracklist was significantly cut down from an original set of songs. According to The Guardian, Sheeran described the process of making final decisions about which tracks to include on the album as “painstaking.” However, of the songs that made the final cut and the album as a whole, he said, “‘They all have their place – I love it, I think it’s the best piece of work I’ve done, it’s cohesive and it feels great.” It certainly seems that this album has been carefully crafted and will truly represent Sheeran’s hard work and the growth he has experienced over the course of his career.

Indeed, the amounts of time between the release of each one of Sheeran’s albums highlight different turning points in the singer’s life, making his discography uniquely heartfelt and impactful. In a recent statement, Sheeran described ‘=’ as “a coming of age record” and stated, “I’ve never been more proud of a body of work.”

For those eager to learn more about the upcoming release, Variety offers a sneak peak. The magazine describes that “thematically, ‘=’ finds Ed taking stock of his life and the people in it, as he explores the varying degrees of love (‘The Joker And The Queen’, ‘First Times’, ‘2step’), loss (‘Visiting Hours’), resilience (‘Can’t Stop The Rain’) and fatherhood (‘Sandman’, ‘Leave Your Life’), while also processing his reality and career (‘Tides’).”

Sheeran’s career has been filled with many highs. For instance, his 2014 album ‘x’ was the 49th best-selling album ever in the UK. After releasing his third album ‘÷,’ he embarked on a world tour that would become the highest-grossing and most-attended tour of all time.

Much of Sheeran’s success has to do with his dedicated fans who not only relate to his music, but are also in awe of his unique, pure talent. Over the course of the past ten years, his career has skyrocketed and he has become a household name.

His career is being especially celebrated this year as the tenth anniversary of the release of ‘+,’ his debut album, approaches on Sept. 9. Loyal fans who have been with the musician all these years, as well as the fans he’s won during this time, are excited to see where Ed Sheeran’s career will take him, and are counting down the days until they can hear his latest masterpiece on Oct. 29.