Taylor Swift announces new album details and single Shake It Off

Taylor Swift has announced her “very first, documented, official pop album”. Titled 1989, after the singer’s birth year and the late-80s pop that inspired the music, Swift’s fifth studio LP will be released on 27 October.

“I’ve been working on a new album for two years,” Swift revealed during Monday night’s webcast. “I like to work on albums for two years, because I feel like two years gives you enough time to grow and change ... This is a bit of a rebirth for me.”

She unveiled the album by unveiling its lead single, Shake It Off. Made with Max Martin and Shellback, who collaborated with Swift on recent tracks like 22 and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, it was said to be an attempt to make something that “sounded nothing like anything Max and [Shellback] had done, and like nothing I had done”. The result is full of handclaps and horns, with a pep-squad scamper and a droopy Swift-ian rap. And although it’s a long way from Swift’s twangy early work or the rockier side of Red, it still seems perfectly in order with Martin and Shellback’s recent work, including Lily Allen’s Air Balloon and Katy Perry’s Birthday. 

The video for Shake It Off, which also premiered Monday night, was directed by Mark Romanek. Swift said that she had long wanted to work with the director, and that he agreed to shoot the video after just one listen to the new song. Their finished clip, shot two months ago, features a variety of dancers – ballerinas, twirlers, b-boys, cheerleaders and, inevitably, twerkers.

1989 is available now for pre-orders, via Swift’s official website. Each physical version of the album is packaged with a set of imitation Polaroid photos, and the deluxe edition includes three “voice memo” song demos that Swift recorded directly to her phone.

Swift, who is 24, is already one of the bestselling artists of all time. Her four albums have garnered seven Grammy awards and sold more than 100m copies worldwide. 2012’s Red marked Swift’s first time topping the UK albums chart; it also spawned four top 10 singles.