Taylor Swift has done it again, giving her fans in Nashville Friday night the exclusive first look at the next release in her Taylor’s Version series of re-recorded albums. During the first stop of The Eras Tour in her hometown, Swift revealed that Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) will be released on July 7 in all formats, including a violet vinyl that fans can pre-order now(opens in a new tab).
Swift surprised her fans at the Nissan Stadium by performing the album’s title track, “Sparks Fly,” before revealing the album cover and release date on the big screens. Swift indicated in an Instagram post that the updated version includes six previously unreleased tracks:
Initially released in 2010, the Grammy Award-nominated album featured singles like “Mean,” and “Ours,” with the former winning a Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song. Speak Now upon its debut sold more than a million copies in its first week, a record sales number for a solo female country artist.
Between the announcement, the spotting of Matt Healy at the show(opens in a new tab), and Swift and Phoebe Bridgers performing “Nothing New” live for the first time, Friday was a big night for Swifties. (Or a bad night if you weren’t there…sorry).
For context for those not in the know, since 2019, Swift has been re-releasing her pre-Lover albums in an effort to regain control of her music catalog. Swift’s former label, Big Machine Records, owned the rights to her first six studio albums(opens in a new tab), and in 2019, they were acquired by music manager Scooter Braun. In response, Swift announced her plans to re-record her earlier music and release new versions of her albums under her ownership. These new versions, dubbed “Taylor’s Version,” allow her to control the rights to her songs and receive royalties from their use. So far, Swift has released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in April 2021 and Red (Taylor’s Version) in November 2021.
Speak Now was a watershed release for Swift as it’s the only album where she has sole songwriting credits. With it’s new and improved re-release July 7, she’ll be halfway done with reclaiming control of her previous work.
