The real reason why Ryan Adams re-recorded Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’

Today, Adams just released his cover album of 1989 in full, where he remade and remodeled every song on T. Swizzle’s album in the shape of a Ryan Adams song. It’s magical and totally making our Music Monday complete.

What does that sound like, you might be wondering? Well, here’s his version of “Out of the Woods.” Try that on for size and see if it pushes your buttons. We tend to think it’s a fantastic reimagining.

Where 1989 as recorded by Swift was an upbeat pop album, Adams applies his signature style to the project (jangly guitars, Smiths-inspired soundscapes, a wistful vocal) and it’s a whole different thing.

Adams had the idea to recreate 1989 after his separation from now ex-wife Mandy Moore, when he realized he was looking at spending his first Christmas and New Year’s alone. He figured it might be good to have a project. He tells Rolling Stone he was listening to Swift’s album, just like almost everyone, and thought he might put his own spin on it. “It wasn’t like I wanted to change them because they needed changing. But I knew that if I sang them from my perspective and in my voice, they would transform,” he said.

He added, “It wasn’t like I wanted to change them because they needed changing. But I knew that if I sang them from my perspective and in my voice, they would transform.”

As for the album’s sound, Adams told Zane Lowe on Beats 1 (via Mashable) that he intended to remake the album in the style of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, a notoriously dark album that’s beloved by critics.

Swift is more than cool with it all, she is like on it. “You can tell he was in a very different place emotionally when he made the album that I did,” she told Adams. She says “Blank Space” and “How You Get the Girl” are her faves on Adams’ version of her album.

It’s genuinely the most unexpected thing we’ve heard so far this year in music. We’re in love.

(Image via Blue Note Records)