Taylor Swift releases Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), re-recorded version of third album

It includes six previously unheard tracks and collaborations with Hayley Williams and Fall Out Boy

Taylor Swift has released Speak Now (Taylor's Version), the third of six planned re-recorded releases. AFP

Taylor Swift has released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), the third re-recorded album by American singer. The release comes after Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version), both put out in 2021.

In 2010, Speak Now was a seminal release for the singer. It was her first without a single song writing collaboration and came fresh on the heels of her first Grammy wins – she won four of the eight Grammy Awards she was nominated for that year.

Her 2006 self-titled debut and 2008’s Fearless had inspired both acclaim and criticism for her bold bridges and keen lyricism – these are masterful country-pop songs, critics argued, but surely a teen idol wasn’t responsible for them.

Swift proved her detractors wrong on Speak Now, an album that arrived just before her pivot from country’s youngest hope to pop’s freshest voice.

The album served as a close document of her nascent fame and future career ambitions, and now, 13 years on, it's back. Speak Now (Taylor's Version), released Friday, is the third release of the six albums Swift plans to re-record.

The Taylor's Version albums, instigated by music manager Scooter Braun's sale of her early catalogue, represent Swift's effort to control her own songs and how they're used – a fitting ethos for Speak Now, a record crafted exclusively of her own voice.

The re-recorded album features the same 14 songs that were on the original release, along with Ours and Superman from the disc two of the deluxe edition. If This Was a Movie, also from the deluxe edition, was released earlier this year in March. The song was originally co-written with Martin Johnson, the only writing collaboration on the original Speak Now.

The latest release features six previously unheard songs that were written for the 2010 album but not included. The six songs – Electric Touch, When Emma Falls in Love, I Can See You, Castles Crumbling, Foolish One and Timeless – include collaborations with Fall Out Boy and Hayley Williams of Paramore.

Speak Now (2010) track list:

• Mine
• Sparks Fly
• Back to December
• Speak Now
• Dear John
• Mean
• The Story of Us
• Never Grow Up
• Enchanted
• Better than Revenge
• Innocent
• Haunted
• Last Kiss
• Long Live

Total length: 67:29

Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (2023) track list:

• Mine
• Sparks Fly
• Back to December
• Speak Now
• Dear John
• Mean
• The Story of Us
• Never Grow Up
• Enchanted
• Better than Revenge
• Innocent
• Haunted
• Last Kiss
• Long Live
• Ours
• Superman
• Electric Touch (featuring Fall Out Boy)
• When Emma Falls in Love
• I Can See You
• Castles Crumbling (featuring Hayley Williams)
• Foolish One
• Timeless

Total length: 104:33

– Additional reporting from Associated Press