Nothing New (song)

"Nothing New" features Phoebe Bridgers (pictured in 2017).

Taylor Swift's fourth studio album Red was released in 2012 by Big Machine Records. It combines country and pop with many genres, which prompted a media debate over Swift's status as a country artist.[1][2] The album was a critical success, ranking at number 99 on Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[3] By June 2021, it had sold over 4.4 million copies in the United States.[4]

Swift signed with Republic Records after her contract with Big Machine expired in 2018; the contract granted her rights to the master recordings of her music.[5] In 2019, Big Machine, as well as the master recordings of Swift's first six studio albums, were acquired by businessman Scooter Braun.[6] Swift began re-recording her Big Machine albums in November 2020, as a means to own her master recordings.[7][8] The first re-recorded album, Fearless (Taylor's Version), was released on April 12, 2021.[9] A re-recording of Swift's second studio album Fearless (2008), the album contains re-recordings of all the original songs, and in addition to that, it features six unreleased tracks subtitled "From the Vault"—they are songs that were written for the original album but were never included.[9]

For her next re-recorded album, Red (Taylor's Version), Swift re-recorded all of the original songs from Red and reworked nine "From the Vault" tracks.[10] One of them was "Nothing New", which she wrote on an Appalachian dulcimer in March 2012 when she was 22 years old.[11] Swift later approached Aaron Dessner to produce it with her and Phoebe Bridgers to feature vocals on the track for Red (Taylor's Version).[12][13][14] "Nothing New" was recorded by engineers Dessner, Bella Blasko, and Jonathan Low at Long Pond Studios in Hudson Valley. Swift's vocals were recorded by Christopher Rowe at Kitty Committee Studios in Belfast and Bridgers's vocals were recorded by Will Maclellan at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles. The song was mixed by Low at Long Pond Studios and was mastered by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound in Edgewater, New Jersey.[14]

I've been thinking a lot about getting older and relevancy and how all my heroes have ended up alone.

— Swift describing what led her to write "Nothing New", 2012[11]

"Nothing New" is a melancholic guitar-led alternative rock[15] and folk ballad,[16][17][18] featuring understated cello and violin.[19][20] The track is about anxiety over romance and growing up.[16][21][18] In the chorus, Swift sings, "How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?" reflecting on her growing up, and "Will you still want me when I'm nothing new?"[22] In the views of Olivia Horn from Pitchfork, "Nothing New" is not only about romantic anxieties, but also about "the music business' famously fickle relationship to young women".[18] Laura Snapes from The Guardian agreed with this idea, citing the lyric "People love an ingenue" as Swift's internalized pressure to stay in the public eye.[23] In a journal entry dated March 2, 2012, Swift wrote that the song is about "being scared of aging and things changing and losing what you have".[lower-alpha 2]

"Nothing New" was released as the 23th track on Red (Taylor's Version) via Republic on November 12, 2021.[24] The song peaked the top 40 on national charts in Australia (31),[25] Canada (22),[26] and Ireland (25).[27] In the United States, "Nothing New" debuted both on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs, with peaks of number 43 and number 11 respectively.[28][29] On other non-national charts, it reached number 33 on the Billboard Global 200 and number 11 on the United Kingdom's Audio Streaming Chart.[30][31] After the album's release, Swift embarked on the Eras Tour in March 2023, where she perform various songs across her discography and feature different opening acts at each concert, where Bridgers was one of them.[32][33] At concerts opened by her, "Nothing New" was added on the tour's set list, in which both Swift and Bridgers performed the track.[34][35]

Critics often lauded "Nothing New" for its emotional sentiments, Swift's songwriting, and Bridgers's performance. They picked it as an album highlight[lower-alpha 3] and one of the best "From the Vault" tracks.[lower-alpha 4] The New York Times' Lindsay Zoladz, Billboard's Jason Lipshutz, Variety's Chris Willman complimented Bridgers's vocals and the thoughtful lyrics.[19][20][37] Carrie Battan of The New Yorker compared "Nothing New" to the "folksy poeticism" of Swift's 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore.[38] Angie Martoccio of Rolling Stone lauded the collaboration: "Swift's adult voice combines with Bridgers' honey-soaked, hushed vocals, melding together in an autumn rush that brushes against your cheek".[21] Some critics praised Swift's double entendre message about the music industry[lower-alpha 5]—The A.V. Club editor Saloni Gajjar opined that its "extremely relatable even if you’re not a globally recognized musician."[39] For the Los Angeles Times, Mikael Wood highlighted its double entendre lyrics and nostalgic sentiments during the age of internet culture.[36]

Credits adapted from Red (Taylor's Version) album liner notes[14]