Jack Antonoff: ‘All Too Well’ teaches artists to “not listen” to industry
Taylor Swift's 10-minute new version of the 2012 song recently became the longest ever Billboard chart-topper
Jack Antonoff has discussed Taylor Swift’s 10-minute version of ‘All Too Well’, saying its success teaches artists to “not listen” to the music industry.
The extended version of Swift‘s hit 2012 song appears on ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)‘, Swift’s re-recorded version of her fourth album ‘Red’, and has since gone on to become the longest Billboard Number One single ever.
Antonoff, who produced the new version of the track, was asked about its success in a new interview with Relix, to which he replied: “You’ve gotta love those moments and hold them close. My initial response was to call out everyone in the industry who told me that no one has attention spans anymore.”
He added: “By the way, the lesson from that isn’t to go make a 10 minute song, the lesson from that is don’t fucking listen to what the industry says. I mean, it happens time and time again.
“Can you imagine 20 years ago, someone telling you that trap was gonna be the biggest genre at some point? It’s insane.”
The new ‘Red’ comes as part of Swift’s ongoing re-recording project, which was sparked by the sale of her original masters to businessman and manager Scooter Braun, and notched up her fifth UK number one album in less than three years upon its release this month (November 12).
Swift also wrote and directed a short film for the new 10-minute version of the fan favourite track, starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien.
Reviewing ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’, Rolling Stone UK said: “Since 2012, Swift has reinvented herself multiple times, most recently with the sublime lockdown indie-folk of ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’. To travel back to the musical mindset of ‘22’ and ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together’ should be nigh-on impossible. After all, ‘Red’ was a masterpiece, so why risk tearing it all up?
“But then Swift is only actually interested in tearing up old deals via her righteous mission to reclaim control of her master recordings, sold first to Scooter Braun, then moved on to private equity firm Shamrock Capital. And the most refreshing thing about her re-recordings programme is, that while faceless businessmen have treated these songs as mere numbers on a spreadsheet, Swift handles them with love and respect, however much she has grown since.”