Honestly, I had fallen off of the Taylor Swift train lately.
The country teen caught my attention with her spectacular debut single "Teardrops on My Guitar". She strengthened her profile in my mind with her Olympic single "Change".
Then, thanks in part to her relationships with the inescapable Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus, she quickly became overexposed and fell out of good graces with me (her lackluster vocal showings didn't help matters either). After a few weeks, I ended up shunning both her megahit "Love Story" and her 11 week chart-topping opus Fearless.
My Swift freeze (no pun intended) had me ignoring a very clear fact: Taylor Swift has undisputable talent. I use italics here because, unlike her Disney friends, her musical ability is not up to interpretation. There's a reason why her album topped the charts for weeks until U2 knocked her off.
Well, I was finally unthawed when I heard the remix to Swift's song "You're Not Sorry". The song was given a complete makeover to coincide with her appearance on hit TV show CSI. To match her character's fatal storyline, the song was stripped off its Nashville style and rebuilt as a dark ballad.
Listen to how much a TV appearance makes.
The remix, swathed in swishing synths and ghostly drumlines, is the most interesting thing she has released since her debut. She transformed a country bop ballad into a harrowing pop lament, swathed in swishing synths and a ghostly drumline. The lyrics, about leaving a stagnant relationship, are far more effective, and even a bit disturbing, with the new sound. When Taylor (whose voice also benefits from the remix) sings the line "you're not sorry", it sounds so dark and twisted, that Joe Jonas fans would probably fear for his life after hearing it.
Taylor Swift is a huge force in music right now, and if she continues to exhibit the crossover appeal that has aided the careers of Shania and Carrie before her, she will have nothing to feel "sorry" about.
Rating: 7/10
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