Taylor Swift is back with new single “Shake It Off,” which is quite appropriately titled in light of both its super upbeat tempo and cool, untouchable chorus. After dropping multiple hints via social media over the past two weeks, the singer gathered fans for a Yahoo/ABC worldwide event on Monday, streaming live from New York City. “To be honest with you, it’s kind of scary up here,” she first said from atop the Empire State Building. Once inside a lounge, she revealed the first of three surprises. “I have a new song I’m going to play you in 30 seconds. The idea [behind the song is] that I’ve had to learn a pretty tough lesson in the last couple of years: People can say what they want about us, at any time… and we cannot control that. The only thing we can control is our reaction to it. I figure we have two options: We can let it change you… option two is you just shake it off.”
While dancing with the crowd, she then debuted “Shake It Off,” complete with a line that talks back — literally, it’s a close cousin to rapping at one point — to haters about her endless train of music awards and romantic prospects. It’s a track that sees Swift pairing up again with pop music masters Max Martin and Shellback (“I Knew You Were Trouble,” “We Are Never, Ever, Ever Getting Back Together”) and has The Hollywood Reporter’smusic editor Shirley Halperin describing it as “her pop-tastic, up-tempo version of ‘Frozen’s’ ‘Let It Go.’” Swift also revealed that her fifth studio album, and her first official pop album, is called “1989,” after her birth year, and will hit shelves Oct. 27. It is currently available for preorder.
