Known for her quirky personality and love songs, Taylor Swift’s 1989 effortlessly transitions her sound from country crooner to pop sensation. Along with the genre switch, Swift’s usual boy-centric theme is thrown out almost completely, centralizing instead on new beginnings and embracing oneself.

Ditching her Nashville roots, Swift finds comfort in a bigger city and uses that as her muse for the opening track, “Welcome to New York”. The title itself is a metaphor for leaving her past behind and finding her balance in a completely new place, eager to be more adventurous and care-free. It also serves as the main clue that this album is not like her earlier guitar-strumming eras, radiating an 80s vibe that will have you dancing instead of trying to forget an awful relationship.

Second single “Out of the Woods” is one of the more personal pieces, but it is so upbeat, the lyrics are quickly forgotten to be anything serious. As fun as it may be, it can quickly get tiring when the majority of the lyrics are the same two lines that are repeated over five times.

Using her tabloid reputation as an advantage, “Blank Space” pokes fun at Swift’s reputation to lure guys in and write about them afterwards (“Got a long list of ex lovers, they’ll tell you I’m insane/ But I’ve got a blank space baby, and I’ll write your name”). This track has potential as a chart topper, thanks to Swift’s witty lyrics and the fun way she addresses the dating rumors.

Swift’s recalls one of her past relationships in “Style”, where she is head over heals over a particular guy with a “James Dean dream look in [his] eye.” The electric guitar also makes an appearance in the beginning of the song before the light synth flows in, capturing the listener’s attention before proceeding with an energy that captures the wistful, almost magical tone of the lyrics.

The track order for 1989 is abrasively divided, having the outgoing and entertaining tracks in the beginning which in turns leaves the slow ballads towards the end. This causes them to be forgotten and for a record like this, seem out of place considering that more than half of the songs have a higher tempo. Nevertheless, 1989 lives up to the hype, serving as a great pick-me-up album that still emits good vibes in every track.