Taylor Swift Releases First Sampling of Re-recorded Masters With “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)”

After months of speculation, Taylor Swift broke the internet for the third time in seventh months by releasing a new recording of her 2008 hit “Love Story.”

The single—titled “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)”  is the first of Swift’s planned re-recording of her breakout album Fearless announced on Good Morning America Thursday morning. Swift first discussed releasing new recordings of her first six albums in August 2019, following the sale of her early masters. 

“Artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really *knows* that body of work,” her Instagram post reads.

The track is not notably different from the original, save for Swift’s more refined vocals, a result of the 13 years between the releases.

Swift also announced that the new version of Fearless will feature new recordings of the album’s bonus tracks, as well as six that have never been released. Lots of speculation has been swirling around when the rest of the new recordings will be released, theories of a “realistic” timing in TikTok videos and Twitter threads.

Though it seems plausible that Swift may release the entire rerecorded catalog in 2021, plans for Taylor’s postponed Lover Fest tour (including dates on the US coasts, Atlanta, and Europe) are still up in the air. Based on current COVID events and the fact that Taylor has since released two full-length EPs post Lover, I wouldn’t bank on those shows ever actually happening. 

Only time will tell. 

Listen to “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” here.