Taylor Swift’s ‘New Year’s Day’ Serviced to Country Radio
The old Taylor may not be able to come to the phone right now, but that doesn’t mean you won’t hear new music from Swift on country radio. In fact, a new track from her recently released sixth album Reputation, “New Year’s Day,” was just serviced to country radio by Swift’s label Big Machine Records.
While previously Reputation tracks, like lead single “Look What You Made Me Do” and its follow-up “…Ready For It?” are decidedly pop, “New Year’s Day,” the final track on Reputation, is something of a return to form for Swift. A minimally arranged ballad with clever lyrics (“Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere”) and gentle piano, the heartfelt song is far more reminiscent of the Red track “All Too Well” than it is the Reputation single “Call It What You Want.” Swift co-wrote the song with Jack Antonoff, who has six co-writing credits on Reputation and with whom Swift first worked on 2014’s 1989.
“New Year’s Day” was one of the last Reputation tracks Swift unveiled before the album’s release, debuting it with an intimate recorded live performance that aired during a commercial break for the November 9th episode of ABC’s Scandal. On the Monday after Reputation dropped, Swift made a last-minute appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to give the song its live debut. Swift also recently won the CMA Award – her first since 2013 – for Song of the Year, having penned Little Big Town’s hit single “Better Man.”
Swift will tour in support of Reputation in 2018. The first date is in Glendale, Arizona on May 8th.