Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff have written greater than 100 songs collectively. So how do they hold issues attention-grabbing? Particularly when Swift is releasing a number of albums yearly — not solely rerecorded variations of her previous albums however all-new ones, together with this yr’s sprawling, 31- tune “Tortured Poets Division.”
“I by no means know what’s gonna occur subsequent,” says Antonoff — Selection’s Hitmakers producer of the last decade — who shouldn’t be Swift’s solely collaborator however has actually been the one she’s labored with probably the most over the previous 10 years. “It’s all the time an informal shock — dinner on the home that turns into messing round in my little studio that turns into a brand new concept. It’s totally natural, which is just about how I work with everybody — like two individuals flying a aircraft, ? It appears like we’re going someplace collectively.”
In one more yr the place Swift has been one of the dominant cultural forces, even a comparatively low-key album like “Tortured Poets” scored successful single, “Fortnight.” She additionally had traction with a holdover from final yr, the anthem “Merciless Summer season,” which was initially launched in 2019 however scored a second life final yr because of Swift’s record-crushing “Eras Tour” (extra on that in a second).
Certainly, one solution to hold issues contemporary is to usher in new collaborators like Put up Malone, who’s on a scorching streak of his personal this yr, featured not simply on this tune but additionally Beyoncé’s “Levii’s Denims” and with nation superstarMorgan Wallen on his personal “I Had Some Assist” (this yr’s No. 2 Hitmakers tune). He appears an unlikely presence on such a mild tune as “Fortnight,” constructed round a softly pulsating synthesized bass line from Antonoff, however Put up reveals a young aspect that one may not have suspected from the face-tattooed hellion rapper behind “Beerbongs & Bentleys.”
“It’s as soon as in a lifetime that somebody like Taylor Swift comes into this world,” he wrote on social media (with just a few emojis added in) after the tune was launched. “I’m floored by your coronary heart and your thoughts, and I’m past honored to have been requested that can assist you along with your journey. I like you a lot. Thanks Tay.” Extra characteristically, he instructed Folks final yr that she is “a fucking hell of a songwriter. Holy shit, wonderful.”
The outstanding comeback of “Merciless Summer season” is definitely extra of a 2023 story — the tune was certainly one of two by Swift on final yr’s Hitmakers Prime 25 — however it was large enough to hold into this yr as effectively, largely as a consequence of its placement on the setlist of “The Eras Tour”: After a tiny snippet of “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince,” the true begin of the present was “Merciless Summer season.”
In June of final yr, the tune out of the blue made a streaming-driven reappearance on the Sizzling 100. On June 15, Republic introduced that “Merciless Summer season” was going to pop radio — although the designated radio single of the second, “Karma,” from “Midnights,” was nonetheless on the rise. (“Karma” didn’t precisely get squelched, within the self-competition; that single made it to No. 2.) “Merciless Summer season” entered the Prime 10 in July and at last reached No. 1 on Oct. 23. As “The Eras Tour” carried on, so did the tune.
“Fortnight”
Songwriters Jack Antonoff, Put up Malone, Taylor Swift
Producers Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift
Publishers Ducky Donath Music, Isimo Compositions, Posty Publishing, Songs of Common, Sony/ATV Songs, Tasrm Publishing
“Merciless Summer season”
Songwriters Jack Antonoff, St. Vincent, Taylor Swift
Producers Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift
Label Republic Information
Publishers Massive Deal Music, BMG Monarch, Ducky Donath Music, Nail Polish Manifesto Music, Peermusic, Sony Music Leisure, Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, Southern Music Publishing, Taylor Swift Music
Hitmakers
13 Administration
Kevin Lipson, chief income officer, Republic Corps Collective
Jim Roppo, president and COO, Republic Corps Collective
Manny Simon, senior VP of scorching AC promotion, Republic Corps Collective
Gary Spangler, government VP, Republic Corps Collective
