Jack Antonoff Likens Working on '1989 (Taylor's Version)' to Time Travelling

According to Jack Antonoff, working with Taylor Swift on the recently reworked album "1989" was similar to "finding an old diary."

The musician, 39, worked as a producer on the original 2014 hit album and reunited with 34-year-old Swift for the October 2023 release of "1989 (Taylor"s Version)."

Antonoff remarked that listening to the masters and hearing the layering techniques he utilized at the time gave him the impression of traveling back in time, much like going through an old journal entry.

In an interview with Vulture, he said, "I would liken it to finding an old diary. There are so many things on so many of those sessions that I was like, "Oh, you little freak. Little layering I would do then, "cause you go through phases, and it made me feel really sweet. That younger version of me that was just piling stuff on, I mean, "Out of the Woods" is just like kitchen sink. That's the glory of it: As someone who didn't really have any success as a producer, there was no reason for me to pile all that on other than it was just giving me a lot of joy. And it made this weird, messy symphony and I love it to this day."

The collaboration between Jack and Taylor started with "1989" and has lasted through five more studio albums, including "Midnights" in 2022.

The member of Bleachers feels like they are continually pushing the envelope in the studio, therefore he thinks they will write songs together for as long as they are together in the music business.

He said, "I've never been in a room with her and felt like we were doing anything but treading new ground that we've let last for even ten seconds. If we're not feeling it, we'll move right the hell along."

He added, "We started working together on "89", we did a ton of work on "Reputation", which was so wonderful and intense, and then Lover, we started to do some more strange things. When we did "Folklore", that was obviously a really different angle, and some of the earlier songs, like "August" and "Mirrorball", are some of my favorite things we've ever done. You know, writing a song and collaborating with somebody, once you do it, you're like, "Well, who knows if that'll ever happen again," "cause it's just magic. With her, I'm constantly taken aback. I'll joke with her sometimes when we get something crazy, like, "Okay, I guess we still got it!" There's really nothing for her and I left to do if we're not completely stretching ourselves out there into the darkness. And that was the whole story with "Midnights.""

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Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff