-, Ed Sheeran

Like many others, I found Ed Sheeran thanks to his friendship and collaboration with Taylor Swift on her 2012 album Red. He was in my regular rotation of artists I listened to with the releases of his first several albums, but unfortunately for me, he faded into the background of my listening habits when he disappeared from music (and the spotlight altogether) for about 4 years following 2017's ÷ (Divide). I'm a huge fan of Aaron Dessner and his production work on albums like Taylor's Folklore and Gracie Abrams' Good Riddance, so when I learned that Aaron had partnered up with Ed to produce this album, - (Subtract), I was intrigued-- and I was not disappointed.

Stand-out tracks: "Dusty" "End of Youth" "No Strings"

My favorites: "Curtains" "Spark"

The album opens on a relatively soft note with "Boat," which beautifully shows off Ed's vocal talent while illustrating the metaphor of overcoming challenges with "the waves won't break my boat." Aaron Dessner's incredible talent as a producer really starts to shine on "Salt Water," with the melancholy, piano-based instrumental backing up haunting lyricism ("I'm free in salt water/embrace the deep and leave everything/it was just a dream") and Ed's powerful middle vocal range. Subtract's lead single, "Eyes Closed," isn't really anything special in contrast to the rest of the album, but it does effectively takes the indie pop-rock style Ed Sheeran was known for with his previous albums with songs like "Shivers" and "Shape of You," and transforms it to be a little more mature thanks to the song's subject matter (we've got a pandemic song ladies and gents) and the acoustic-based poppiness of the production (I should have known only good things would come when Max Martin, Shellback, and Aaron Dessner collaborate). "Life Goes On" is classic Ed Sheeran-- guitar and piano instrumentals coupled with passionate, soaring vocals depicting the tumultuousness of heartbreak.

The tone shifts towards a more electronic soft-rock sound with "Dusty"-- this one is incredibly appealing from its visual storytelling in "drop the needle on Dusty/frost on the leaves like a lake/the moment came out of nothing/a beautiful smile on your face" to it's fuller, cozy sound.

The joy doesn't last long though, with "Dusty" transitioning into "End of Youth."

Lyrically, this is one of the most gutwrenching songs I've ever come across, ever. No one really writes about the grief realizing you may have lost parts of yourself, but with lyrics like "You can't talk me through the fall if we don't know if I can land/tried to grow, but the past, it tears me down to size/tell the world how to process, but don't take the same advice," this song embodies the heaviness of coming into adulthood with stunning artistry. No one can sing a tragically passionate piano-and-drum ballad with quite the same effect that Ed Sheeran can.

"Curtains" turns to a deeper, more dynamic sound and is chock-full of really great lyrics illustrating the empowerment that comes from finally pulling yourself out of a dark place. The electric guitars and the repetitive "and tomorrow's another day/let me see the sunshine" make for a really fun hook. The production of "Spark" is probably my favorite of the entire album. It's very piano-heavy in a yearning way and it meshes beautifully with the hopeful "use words as kindling/light up the night sky/let the memories take flight/and hope the sparks survive."

The closing act of Subtract comes with back-to-back tracks "Sycamore" and "No Strings"-- a beautiful pairing of truly human love songs. The former tells the story of the power of hope in the face of a health crisis and the latter illustrates the unrelenting power of simply fighting for the ones you love ("this is no strings/you are who I love/it's just growing pains/we did not fight for love/just to let it be defeated").

Subtract is everything I hoped it would be-- vocally powerful, lyrically charged, and packed with perfectly-produced encompassing instruments. Personally, I'm thrilled that Ed dropped the hip-hop/rap influences of some of his earlier albums in favor of a more indie-rock vibe with Subtract. Aaron Dessner's production makes for a well-rounded album in terms of instrumentals, and while Ed Sheeran has always been good at capturing emotionality and story-telling, Subtract really allows those strengths to shine.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: KINDA OBSESSED

Speak Now (Taylor's Version), Taylor Swift

The day has finally come. Taylor finally owns Speak Now. This was the first album of hers I went and bought at Target on release day in 2010, decked out in my crimped hair and Fearless Tour t-shirt. While we've seen so many evolutions of Taylor over the years, I feel like 100% self-written Speak Now and now Speak Now (Taylor's Version) are the collection of songs that are the absolute most "Taylor" at her core. While some things have changed from the original Speak Now, ultimately Speak Now (Taylor's Version) takes an album that was exceptional 13 years ago and recreates it with intensified instrumental production and matured vocals-- and then tacks on possibly the best string of From the Vault tracks to date.

Stand-out tracks: "Dear John (Taylor's Version)" "Better Than Revenge (Taylor's Version)" "I Can See You (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"

My favorites: "Sparks Fly (Taylor's Version) "Back to December (Taylor's Version)" "Haunted (Taylor's Version)" "Long Live (Taylor's Version)" "Castles Crumbling (feat. Hayley Williams) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"

The album starts with that same charming "oh oh" of "Mine (Taylor's Version)." Between the incredibly detailed storytelling, particularly the bridge ("and I remember that fight, two-thirty a.m./when everything was slipping right out of our hands/I ran out, crying, and you followed me out into the street/braced myself for the goodbye/cause that's all I've ever known/then you took me by surprise/you said, 'I'll never leave you alone'"), and power vocals that really convey the passion of the outro ("you are the best thing that's ever been mine/yes, yes, do you believe it?/we're gonna make it now") this is one of those instant-classic Taylor Swift love songs done exactly right. My favorite song from the original Speak Now (and one of my top 5 favorite Taylor songs ever) is "Sparks Fly"-- maybe it's how intensely ingrained the original is in my ears and heart, but the emotionality that oozes out of the original isn't quite there in the re-recorded version. I fully acknowledge that I'm being nit-picky, so I'll also easily admit that "Sparks Fly (Taylor's Version)" remains one of my favorites based on the song itself-- this just might be one that I turn to my physical copies of the 2010 version of the album more often. "Back to December (Taylor's Version)" is the perfect example of a song that was perfect when it was released in 2010 and recreating it with fuller violins and guitars makes it all the more heartbreakingly romantic. I will never forget the absolute magic that was seeing this one performed on piano and mashed up with OneRepublic's "Apologize" on the Speak Now Tour in 2011-- "Back to December (Taylor's Version)" simply just got better with age.

One of the most powerful moments of the entire album is the bridge of "Dear John (Taylor's Version), when Taylor belts out "I'm shining like fireworks over your sad empty town." After the absolutely heartwrenching tale strung out in this song of a girl who was "too young to be messed with/the girl in the dress, cried the whole way home" and knowing all that girl came to become, that line really hits home, especially in the re-recorded version. "The Story of Us (Taylor's Version)" is lyrically genius in its storybook references and its instrumentation that is chaotic in the best way. The re-recorded version of this one is infinitely better than the original thanks to the noticeable power Taylor's voice has developed over the last 13 years and the punch of modern production on those drums that had Taylor shouting "Can I please see you jump?!" back on the Speak Now Tour.

A theme across the entirety of Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is the absolute precision in lyrical metaphors and the illustrative details of the storytelling of genuinely every single song. Of the re-recorded songs from the original album, "Never Grow Up (Taylor's Version)," "Enchanted (Taylor's Version," and "Innocent (Taylor's Version)" are among the most strikingly visual in their lyrical and instrumental composition. "Never Grow Up (Taylor's Version)" is pared back and simple, allowing the lullaby-like melodies and stories of the nostalgia of growing pains to take center stage, while "Enchanted (Taylor's Version)" and "Innocent (Taylor's Version)" are grander and certainly more wistful-- while Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is full of dazzling bridges, these two might have the best of the bunch (hello the growing violins behind "Please don't be in love with someone else/please don't have somebody waiting on you" and ground-shaking drums backing lyrics like "Time turns flames to embers/you'll have new Septembers/every one of us has messed up too/minds change like the weather/I hope you remember/today is never too late to be brand new").

The first lyric change of Taylor's re-recording process comes in "Better Than Revenge (Taylor's Version)," which automatically draws your attention to the lyrics-- however for me, the biggest star of this song is the absolutely delicious electric guitars and the wicked spoken backing vocals, with"think about what you did" being particularly scathing. Despite the lyric change, "Better Than Revenge (Taylor's Version)" remains searing towards the girl who stole her man and I continue to be astounded by the sheer volume of words Taylor managed to squeeze into this song. Remember what I said earlier about "Sparks Fly (Taylor's Version) losing some of the emotionality from the 2010 version? "Better Than Revenge (Taylor's Version) hasn't lost an ounce of the scorching emotion from the original. My other favorite track from the original Speak Now is "Haunted" and "Haunted (Taylor's Version)" takes the incredibly impressive pairing of violin and electric guitar coupled with quite simply haunting lyricism and makes a song that was great on the original album even better. My favorite detail of "Haunted (Taylor's Version)"? The emphasized bells in the intro that immediately take me back to the ringing gold bells on stage at the Speak Now Tour while a red-dress-clad Taylor struck them dramatically with a mallet during this song. It's the little details.

The end of the original standard album comes with "Long Live (Taylor's Version)". There really aren't words that can accurately describe the way this song makes me feel 13 years, 7 albums, and countless Taylor-related memories later. In the re-recorded album prologue Taylor writes that "Long Live (Taylor's Version)" is for "those people, the ones who thought I had been good enough all along"-- every little bit of the gratitude she feels for us really does shine through on one of the most heartfelt and genuinely grateful songs she's ever written, especially in the re-recorded version.

Let's dive into the From the Vault tracks. After listening to all of them a couple of times, I'm incredibly impressed by the instrumental range of these songs as well as the fact that they're brand new in 2023, but sound exactly like they were released in 2010 along with the original album. "Electric Touch (feat. Fall Out Boy) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" is continued proof that a pop-rock Taylor album would be unstoppable-- from supple drums and encompassing vocals on the choruses chanting lyrics like "all I know is this could either break my heart/or bring it back to life" to the little bit of flair added by the Fall Out Boy feature, this song is a 2010 pop-rock dream. "When Emma Falls in Love (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" is honestly probably my least favorite of the From the Vault tracks, which puts into perspective how good all of them are. Starting with a simple piano-and-vocal that sounds poetic, the song then blossoms into the classic Speak Now-era instrumentals of drums, banjo, guitars, and dreamy backing vocals and idyllic lyrics like "she's the kinda book that you can't put down/like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town/and all the bad boys would be good boys/if they only had the chance to love her."

The next two From the Vault tracks are my personal favorites. "I Can See You (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" is going to be the "All Too Well (10-Minute Version)" of this album with its catchy electric-guitar led instrumentals and the incredibly sleek and sexy lyrics that are shocking to have been written by 18-year old Taylor. [Edit: The music video for this song has been released since I wrote this review and HELLO? Taylor Lautner and Joey King breaking into the Speak Now vault to save Speak Now Tour Taylor??? To represent how fans have helped her take back her art??? I'll be talking about this one for A LONG TIME.] "Castles Crumbling (feat. Hayley Williams) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" is the heartbreaking anti-"Long Live"-- every emotion of being built up so high that it gets to be lonely and scary is laid out with the perfect balance of power and vulnerability. The lyrics are truly the star of the show on this song; examples include "used to chant my name/now they're screaming that they hate me/never wanted you to hate me" and "power went to my head and I couldn't stop/ones I loved tried to help, so I ran them off/and here I sit alone behind walls of regret/falling down like promises that I never kept."

"Foolish One (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" is probably the From the Vault track that genuinely sounds the most like it came straight off the original 2010 Speak Now album. Guitar-piano-drum instrumentals, "la la la's," and poignantly overdramatic-yet-romantic lyrics like "now I'm slidin' down the wall with my head in my hands/sayin', 'How could I not see the signs?'/you haven't written me or called" make this track absolutely classic Speak Now. The album concludes after 22 tracks with "Timeless (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)." This one is "Mine" meets Taylor Swift's "Mary's Song (Oh My My My)"-- it's a love letter to love stories that span years against all odds. "That's when I came upon a book covered in cobwebs/story of a romance torn apart by fate/hundreds of years ago, they fell in love like we did/and I'd die for you in the same way if I first saw your face" is just exactly the right tone to end the album on with its captivating yet simple nostalgia and romance.

In my opinion, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is one of Taylor's greatest triumphs as a musician thus far. The original album was a skip-less classic-- now with updated instrumentals and matured vocals and sonically cohesive powerhouses of From the Vault tracks, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is a magical masterpiece.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED

E·MO·TION, Carly Rae Jepsen

The fact that most of the world forgot about Carly Rae Jepsen after "Call Me Maybe" faded from the 2012 radio airwaves is truly such a shame. No one quite does fun, lighthearted pop with the same pizzazz as she does, and that's what makes her 2015 album Emotion an achievement in one of the most sonically cohesive bubblegum pop albums I've come across.

Stand-out tracks: "I Really Like You" "LA Hallucinations"

My favorites: "Making the Most of the Night" "Gimmie Love"

The album opens with high-powered, electronic "Run Away With Me" which makes it very clear that Emotion is going to be a dance-pop emotional escape in an album-- nothing too heavy here. Title-track "Emotion" is dreamy and keeps the energy up from the prior track, complete with some fun synth-y production and vocal distortion on the chorus.

Quintessential Carly Rae Jepsen shines through on "I Really Like You"-- it's girly and a little simplistic in composition, but outstanding, explosive production and the natural breathiness of Carly's voice make it incredibly obvious why this song was picked as the follow-up lead single after "Call Me Maybe." The tone turns a little sultrier with "Gimmie Love"-- with a bass-heavy chorus and the clever back and forth of "'cause I want what I want, do you think that I want too much?" and "'cause I want what I want, boy you, it's what I need" this one is a makes for a nice change of pace.

Things slow down a little for "All That," but Carly Rae finally gets a chance to show off some vocal talent on this one. The production is just fun and romantic enough to keep this one from falling through the cracks. If you're not into bubblegum, "Boy Problems" would likely be a skip for you because this one has both a repetitive "na na na" hook and lyrics like "I think I broke up with my boyfriend today/and I don't really care"-- personally I find it an amusing filler that plays well with the rest of the album.

"Making the Most of the Night" is everything a person could hope for in a dance-pop song-- a repetitive chorus, boppy beat, and production bursting out the seams. The next run of tracks has such distinctly supple production that each one stands strong alone-- the vibes of "LA Hallucinations" perfectly capture what I can imagine is the feeling of electricity of being caught up in the dizziness of fame and "Warm Blood" reverberates through your bloodstream exactly like the sensation of catching feelings might.

The lowest point of Emotion is probably "Black Heart"-- it's not bad, but there's really nothing interesting about this song from the production, vocals, lyrics-- all of it is just very mediocre compared to the production-perfection and conceptual fun of the rest of the album. "I Didn't Just Come Here to Dance" is simple but clever; it's the most "club-y" track on the album both in production and lyricism. The album ends on a positive note with "Favourite Colour"-- this one keeps up the strong mesh of vocals and instrumental production we've heard across the entirety of Emotion.

You wouldn't want to dive too terribly deep into the lyricism on Emotion, but in terms of the coupling of Carly Rae Jepsens' breathy-yet-confident vocals and star-powered production-- Emotion is a studio-perfect pop triumph.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: KINDA OBSESSED