To great anticipation and expectation, Taylor Swift released her new album Red, featuring the hit single “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together” in the hopes that after two years of preparation and songwriting, fans would receive this album as the beginning of something new. Red was a definite surprise, veering toward a more modern, poppy tunefulness, although careful to keep Swift’s original country flair. People are undoubtedly catching on, as five of her 16 tracks have already climbed the top 10 list.

Unlike her last album, released in 2010 and written entirely by Swift, the artist chose to approach this new record with the idea of bringing a variety of talents together to create an album that would appeal to a variety of listeners.

I have to say, I’m impressed.  This is a risky change for Swift, who leaves behind her “Teardrops on my Guitar” days as a simple lovesick country girl to take on her role as a sophisticated young adult still in search for a love that makes it all worth while. Her new song, “Red”, for which the album is named, displays love as a series of complex emotions, new and powerful, bright and burning red.

Swift was sure to include a wide range of sound, from upbeat hits such as Stay Stay Stay and State of Grace to slow, emotional ballads such as “All Too Well” (one of my personal favorites) and Sad “Beautiful Tragic”.  She also took the opportunity to write with two of her favorite artists– Gary Lightbody, the lead singer of Snow Patrol, and British sensation Ed Sheeran, who helped the 22-year-old write “Everything has Changed” while sitting on a trampoline.

The album closes with “Begin Again”, which in an early iTunes release was the first song to top the current hit “Gangnam Style”, which is a pretty serious accomplishment.  The song explores the vulnerability in starting over, something the artist has done with the support of her fans and co-writers in order to create a record that once again connects to her audience as they continue to grow.