Swift shakes up her sound

Kelly Wynne, Features Editor

Chances are, you have heard Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” on a radio station within the past few weeks since her worldwide release on Aug. 18.

The former country and now pop star also took the stage at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards to showcase her latest single.

Swift took to Yahoo’s live streaming platform to let fans in on what she has in store for the upcoming months. Not only did Swift reveal her new album called “1989,” but debuted “Shake It Off” alongside its music video.

The song, centered on the idea of not letting other people’s opinions get to you, opens with a simple, upbeat, drum pattern leading into a seemingly simple verse. The song jumps into a repetitive chorus that makes you want to dance along with the many dancing people in her music video.

Swift’s VMA performance was styled to look like a modern day 1920’s scene with men in tuxedos and herself, as well as her female dancers, in shiny flapper dresses. Throughout her set, the message of dance that she portrayed in her music video was continued. The song, as well as its delivery, created a happy, empowering atmosphere, and remained relatively classy amongst many raunchy VMA acts.

Overall, “Shake It Off” is not immediately what you would expect from Swift, but at the same time, seems to portray her personality to a tee. There is no denying that her newfound sound is catchy, it may just take some getting used to.

“1989” is set to be released on Oct. 27.