Taylor Swift releases another two remixes of ‘Willow’
Taylor Swift has dropped not one but two remixes of her latest single ‘Willow’, dubbed the ‘Lonely Witch’ and ‘Moonlit Witch’ versions.
The ‘Lonely Witch’ version arrived on Tuesday morning (December 15), with the ‘Moonlit Witch’ version following that evening.
Produced by The National‘s Aaron Dessner, ‘Willow’ is the lead single from Swift’s surprise new studio album, ‘Evermore’, which dropped on Friday December 11, the follow-up to her critically acclaimed July release ‘Folklore’.
Compared with the original version, ‘Willow (Lonely Witch version)’ uses different instrumentation, falling to the background as Swift’s vocals are delivered with a stronger clarity. Listen below:
Unlike ‘Lonely Witch’, ‘Willow (Moonlit Witch version)’ features more 90s hip-hop inspired beats with gentle synth undertones and an occasional chorus background creating a different kind of whimsy. Listen below:
The new versions of ‘Willow’ follow the release of its first reimagining, ‘Dancing Witch’, on Sunday December 13, released to coincide with the singer’s 31st birthday.
‘Dancing Witch’ was produced by Elvira Anderfjärd, with the songwriter contributing performances on several instruments as well as background vocals.
In its five-star review of ‘Evermore’, NME called Swift’s surprise drop a “freewheeling younger sibling” to ‘Folklore’.
“‘Folklore’ was Swift’s masterful songwriting spun through a very specific sonic palette; ‘Evermore’ feels looser, with more experimentation, charm and musical shades at play.”
In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Swift said she considered releasing both ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’ next year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking during the 50-minute interview, Swift said that writing two related albums involved her rewriting her own rulebook and that releasing in 2021 would have brought about a greater sense of normalcy.
“In times like these when everything is uncertain and everything changes in your world… If you’re making stuff, put it out if people need music and you’ve made music put it out,” she said.
“There was a time in the beginning of the process where I was like ‘I will wait till January when things are looking more normal then I will put out ‘Folklore’, and I was like that’s my old brain thinking that there’s any way that I can control this.”