Taylor Swift 'Shake It Off' - Track Review

Countrified former teen queen Taylor Swift turns bona fide pop diva for her new single. Essentially a ‘sonic fuck’ you to her critics, the hand-clap, horn-driven percussive effort is an insanely catchy, impossibly charming track. Though the ‘Hey Mickey’-like middle eight is best forgotten, the chorus is pure gold; the lyrics (such as “I go on too many dates/But I can’t make them stay/At least that’s what people say....”) just the right side of self-aware. Undoubtedly there’ll be some genre Nazis that will pour scorn on Swift and her new direction. For me, ‘Shake It Off’ is one of the best pop songs of the year.