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Electric Touch (song)

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"Electric Touch"
Song by Taylor Swift featuring Fall Out Boy
from the album Speak Now (Taylor's Version)
ReleasedJuly 7, 2023 (2023-07-07)
Genre
Length4:26
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
  • Taylor Swift
Producer(s)
Lyric video
"Electric Touch" on YouTube

"Electric Touch"[note 1] is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring the American band Fall Out Boy. Swift wrote the song and intended it for her 2010 studio album, Speak Now, but left it out of the track-list. She produced it with Aaron Dessner for her 2023 re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version).

"Electric Touch" is a pop-punk and pop rock song driven by dynamic drums, electric guitar riffs, and vocals from Swift and Fall Out Boy's lead singer Patrick Stump. The lyrics are about the anxieties, excitement, and self-doubt from a newfound love. Most critics gave positive reviews to "Electric Touch", praising the production and the vocal chemistry between Swift and Stump, while others perceived it negatively. The song peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Global 200 and entered charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the United States.

Background

[edit]

After signing a new contract with Republic Records, Swift began re-recording her first six studio albums in November 2020.[2] The decision followed a public 2019 dispute between Swift and the talent manager Scooter Braun, who acquired Big Machine Records, including the masters of Swift's albums which the label had released.[3][4] By re-recording the albums, Swift had full ownership of the new masters, which enabled her to control the licensing of her songs for commercial use and therefore substituted the Big Machine–owned masters.[5] In 2021, Swift released two re-recorded albums of her earlier releases: Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version); each album also featured several unreleased "From the Vault" tracks that she had written but left out of the original albums' track listings.[6]

On May 5, 2023, at the first Nashville date of her sixth concert tour, the Eras Tour, Swift announced Speak Now (Taylor's Version) as her third re-recorded album; it is the re-recording of her third studio album, Speak Now (2010).[7] She shared on social media that the original album was "a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing [...] and living to speak about it" that covered "brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness".[8][9] On June 5, 2023, Swift announced the track-list of Speak Now (Taylor's Version), which consists six "From the Vault" songs were intended for but left out of Speak Now's 2010 track listing.[10] One of them is "Electric Touch", which features the American rock band Fall Out Boy, one of the songwriting influences for Swift when she was conceiving the 2010 album.[11]

Music and lyrics

[edit]
Patrick Stump playing a guitar
Swift duets with Fall Out Boy's frontman Patrick Stump (pictured) in "Electric Touch".

Swift wrote "Electric Touch" and produced the track with Aaron Dessner, who also engineered it and played guitars, synths, and percussions. Fall Out Boy's frontman Patrick Stump contributed guest vocals, played electric guitar, and provided additional engineering. Other musicians on the track include Benjamin Lanz (synth), James McAlister (synth), Joe Russo (drums), Josh Kaufman (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, organ), and Thomas Bartlett (keyboards, piano, synth).[12]

At 4 minutes and 26 seconds,[12] "Electric Touch" is a pop-punk[13][14] and pop rock song.[15] The production features electric guitar riffs and crescendoing drums.[16] Critics described the sound as "anthemic",[17][18] "cinematic",[16] and "soaring".[14][19] Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times described the guitar as "chugging emo".[20] Chris Willman from Variety commented that the sound was in line with Speak Now's "organic pop-rock band sound she favored at the time".[17] In the song, Swift duets with Stump.[21][14][16] The lyrics explore the conflicting feelings such as anxieties, pessimism, excitement, hope, and self-doubt over a newfound romance;[17][22] the chorus demonstrates this, "All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life/ Got a feeling your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life."[19] Jason Lipshutz from Billboard summarized the theme as "cautious optimism".[23]

Release

[edit]

Speak Now (Taylor's Version) was released on July 7, 2023, by Republic Records; "Electric Touch" is the 17th song on the album.[24] The song peaked at number 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 16 on Hot Country Songs, where it became Fall Out Boy's first entry.[25][26][27] Elsewhere, it charted in the Philippines (22),[28] New Zealand (35),[29] Australia (38),[30] Canada (46),[31] and it peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Global 200.[32]

Critical reception

[edit]

Rachel R. Carroll of PopMatters commended Swift's ability to "turn a small, fleeting moment into a cinematic showstopper".[16] Mark Sutherland from Rolling Stone UK wrote that Fall Out Boy raises the song to "soaring pop-punk status".[14] Bobby Olivier of Spin compared "Electric Touch" to other duet "Castles Crumbling" with Hayley Williams of Paramore, and opined that the former is more upbeat and called it a "fun and hooky, four-on-the-floor guitar jam — exactly the sort of pop-rock banger missed amid the digital thumps of Midnights".[21] Laura Shapes of The Guardian described "Electric Touch" as a "rueful stadium chugger", and considered it a "good bit of revisionist history, rightly honouring Speak Now as emo canon".[33]

In Uproxx, Danielle Chelosky lauded Swift and Stump for their musical chemistry and "impressive, mesmerizing" vocals.[34] Rolling Stone journalist Maura Johnston described the song as a "shimmering four minute pop gem", and wrote that Swift and Stump work "pleasantly" together.[22] In a less positive review, Willman found the song to be the least interesting "From the Vault" track compositionally, and said that "it lacks any of the truly great, peculiar lines that mark a Swift song as unmistakably hers".[17] Kate Solomon from the i considered it "extremely mediocre".[35]

Personnel

[edit]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[12]

  • Taylor Swift – vocals, songwriting, production
  • Patrick Stump – vocals, electric guitar, additional engineering
  • Aaron Dessner – production, engineering, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer, percussion
  • Benjamin Lanz – synthesizer, additional engineering
  • James McAlister – synthesizer, additional engineering
  • Joe Russo – drums, percussion
  • Josh Kaufman – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, organ
  • Thomas Bartlett – keyboards, piano, synthesizer
  • Christopher Rowe – vocal engineering
  • Bella Blasko – additional engineering
  • Jonathan Low – mixing, engineering
  • Randy Merrill – mastering

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for "Electric Touch"
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[30] 38
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[31] 46
Global 200 (Billboard)[32] 37
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[29] 35
Philippines (Billboard)[28] 22
UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[36] 82
UK Singles Sales (OCC)[37] 84
UK Streaming (OCC)[38] 58
US Billboard Hot 100[25] 35
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[26] 16

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Officially titled "Electric Touch (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"[1]

References

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  1. ^ Green, Cassandra (July 7, 2023). "'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)' Release Proves That Swifties Know The Value Of A Good Meme". Elle Australia. Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  2. ^ Melas, Chloe (November 16, 2020). "Taylor Swift Speaks Out about Sale of Her Masters". CNN. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  3. ^ "Taylor Swift Wants to Re-Record Her Old Hits". BBC News. August 22, 2019. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  4. ^ Finnis, Alex (November 17, 2020). "Taylor Swift Masters: The Controversy around Scooter Braun Selling the Rights to Her Old Music Explained". i. Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  5. ^ Shah, Neil (April 9, 2021). "Taylor Swift Releases New Fearless Album, Reclaiming Her Back Catalog". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  6. ^ Espada, Mariah (July 6, 2023). "Taylor Swift Is Halfway Through Her Rerecording Project. It's Paid Off Big Time". Time. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  7. ^ Lipshutz, Jason; Aniftos, Rania (May 5, 2023). "Taylor Swift Announces Speak Now as Next Re-Recorded Album at Nashville Concert". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  8. ^ Hussey, Allison (May 5, 2023). "Taylor Swift Announces New Re-Recorded Album Speak Now (Taylor's Version)". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  9. ^ Avila, Daniela (May 5, 2023). "Taylor Swift Announces Speak Now (Taylor's Version) at Nashville Show: 'I Love to Surprise You'". People. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  10. ^ Strauss, Matthew (June 5, 2023). "Taylor Swift Reveals Hayley Williams and Fall Out Boy Features on New Speak Now (Taylor's Version) Tracklist". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  11. ^ Gibson, Kelsie (July 10, 2023). "Who Are Taylor Swift's Speak Now Songs About? What She Has Said About the Inspirations". People. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  12. ^ a b c Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (CD liner notes). Taylor Swift. Republic Records. 2023.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ^ Puckett-Pope, Lauren (July 7, 2023). "Taylor Swift's 'Electric Touch' (Feat. Fall Out Boy) Is a Whimsical Pop-Punk Playground". Elle. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  14. ^ a b c d Sutherland, Mark (July 7, 2023). "Taylor Swift Speak Now (Taylor's Version) review: modern revamp of a classic". Rolling Stone UK. Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  15. ^ Olivier, Bobby (July 7, 2023). "Taylor Swift Reimagines Speak Now (Taylor's Version) With An Emo Twist". Spin. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c d Carroll, Rachel R. (July 13, 2023). "Taylor Swift's New Speak Now Nods to the Past". PopMatters. Archived from the original on July 16, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d Willman, Chris (July 7, 2023). "Taylor Swift Speak Now (Taylor's Version) Vault Tracks Review: Key Co-Stars Include Hayley Williams, Fall Out Boy and... Grandmother Marjorie". Variety. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  18. ^ Ruggieri, Melissa (July 7, 2023). "Taylor Swift's Speak Now: This is the song you must hear on new version of her album". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  19. ^ a b Spanos, Brittany (July 7, 2023). "Taylor Swift Goes Back to 2010 With Fall Out Boy, Hayley Williams". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  20. ^ Wood, Mikael (July 7, 2023). "A user's guide to Taylor Swift's Speak Now (Taylor's Version)". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  21. ^ a b Olivier, Bobby (July 7, 2023). "Taylor Swift Reimagines Speak Now (Taylor's Version) With An Emo Twist". Spin. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  22. ^ a b Johnston, Maura (July 7, 2023). "Taylor Swift Expands Our Image of a Landmark Album With Speak Now: Taylor's Version". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  23. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (November 2, 2023). "Taylor Swift's 'Taylor's Version' Songs: Every 'From The Vault' Track Ranked (So Far)". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  24. ^ Sager, Jessica (July 7, 2023). "Speak Now (Taylor's Version) Lyrics, Easter Eggs and Song Meanings". Parade. Archived from the original on July 18, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  25. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  26. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  27. ^ Asker, Jim (July 17, 2023). "Taylor Swift's Speak Now (Taylor's Version) Debuts at No. 1 on Top Country Albums Chart". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 18, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  28. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Philippines Songs)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  29. ^ a b "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 17, 2023. Archived from the original on July 16, 2023. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  30. ^ a b "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. July 17, 2023. Archived from the original on July 16, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  31. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  32. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  33. ^ Snapes, Laura (July 7, 2023). "Taylor Swift: Speak Now (Taylor's Version) review – re-recording project starting to feel wearying and pointless". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  34. ^ Chelosky, Danielle (July 7, 2023). "Taylor Swift Recruits Fall Out Boy For 'Electric Touch', A Magical 'From The Vault' Song On Speak Now (Taylor's Version)". Uproxx. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  35. ^ Solomon, Kate (July 7, 2023). "Speak Now (Taylor's Version) gives Taylor Swift's most underrated album a new lease of life". i. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  36. ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  37. ^ "Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on August 4, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  38. ^ "Official Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on July 16, 2023. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
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