Taylor Swift has struggled to re-record ‘Reputation’.
After Scooter Braun bought the master recordings of Taylor’s first six albums from her former record label Big Machine in 2019, the 35-year-old singer set about re-releasing new versions of her work.
And, while she has already released ‘Fearless’, ‘Speak Now’ ‘Red’ and ‘1989’ and has her self-titled debut completed and ready to go, she admitted that ‘Reputation has been more difficult.
In an emotional statement after she successfully bought back her masters from investment firm Shamrock Capital, Taylor told her fans: “I know, I know. What about Rep TV? Full transparency: I haven’t even re-recorded a quarter of it. The Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life, and I kept hitting a stopping point when I tried to remake it.
“All that defiance, that longing to be understood while feeling purposely misunderstood, that desperate hope, that shame-born snarl and mischief. To be perfectly honest, it’s the one album in those first 6 that I thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it. Not the music, or the photos, or videos. So I kept putting it off. There will be a time (if you’re into the idea) for the unreleased vault tracks from that album to hatch.
“I’ve already completely re-recorded my entire debut album, and I really love how it sounds now. Those 2 albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about. But if it happens, it won’t be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now.”
However, Taylor previously admitted she is excited to release the ‘Reputation’ vault tracks.
She told Time: “It’s a goth-punk moment of female rage at being gaslit by an entire social structure. I think a lot of people see it and they’re just like, sick snakes and strobe lights.”