"Style" | |
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Song |
"Style" is a song by American singer Taylor Swift from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). It was written by Swift, Max Martin, Shellback.[1] It was released to the radio by Republic on February 9, 2015 as the album's third single, after "Blank Space" and is also the third track on the album.[2] Musically, the song is a pop rock and electropop song. Commercially, "Style" peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and entered the record charts of several nations, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
"I love how the song sounds the way that that feeling felt. I love it when the sound of the song matches up with the feeling that inspired it. In this song, it just reminds of driving in the middle of the night. I don't know. I loved comparing these timeless visuals with a feeling that never goes out of style... It's basically one of those relationships that's always a bit off. I talked about in another song on the record, a crooked love, which is never quit synced up right. The two people are trying to forget each other. So, it's like, 'All right, I heard you went off with her,' and well, I've done that, too... My previous albums have also been sort of like, 'I was right, you were wrong, you did this, it made me feel like this'--a righteous sense of right and wrong in a relationship. What happens when you grow up is you realize the rules in a relationship are very blurred and that it gets very complicated very quickly, and there's not a case of who was right or who was wrong."
—Swift, explaining to Ryan Seacrest about the meaning and inspiration of the song on iHeartRadio/KIIS FM interview in October 2014.[3]
"Style" is an electropop-inspired pop rock song,[4] debuted as a snippet in the Target commercial to promote her album. In late December 2014, Big Machine Records head Scott Borchetta answered a fan's question on an impromptu Q&A on social networking site Twitter. The fan asked, "What's Taylor's next single?" and Scott responded promptly that he was leaning towards "Style". It was an "obvious single choice", according to Billboard.[4] In January 2015, Republic Records officially anounced "Style" as Swift's third single from 1989, set for a release on February 9, 2015.[2]
"Style" garnered acclaim from critics. PopMatters described Swift as "(trying) on several fresh styles that fit her like a cashmere-lined leather glove" on this song and praises it as "immaculate, almost impossibly ebullient and thrilling".[5] AbsolutePunk lauded it for its "radiant hooks" and as "a song that is almost certain to get stuck in your head after just one listen."[6] The Observer called it a "percolating funk-pop number that satisfies on every level".[7] The New York Times declared it as the album's high mark and compared it to the original Miami Vice soundtrack. NOW Magazine called it the top track from the album.[8]
The hook of "Style" was praised by Consequence of Sound, proclaiming it's "one of the album’s most arresting hooks... The song is deliriously triumphant, but triumph is an easy place to get to when you’re young, hot, and loaded in the country’s sparkliest city. Here, Swift’s girl-next-door likability slips, making it harder to forget that “Style” literally debuted as an advertisement."[9] Drowned In Sound commented that "There's that same 'stay positive' philosophy, and a fair few shouty bits. Best of all is 'Style', which celebrates Swift's fling with 1D's Harry Styles (geddit?) as though being young and reckless is all a part of growing up. This is something anyone can relate to, whether they've made a string of poor romantic choices or 'done a whitey' on the weekend gone by."[10] NME described "Style" as "so ’80s-indebted with its thick piano-house and uplifting “Take me home” coda, echoes the retro-modern atmosphere conjured by the slinky cool of Electric Youth and Blood Orange.[11]
Less positively, The Independent called "Style" "desperately inclusive electropop grooves and corporate rebel clichés of songs", though "a certain piquancy" is apparent.[12] The LA Times praised it as "a sensual funk track" in their mixed review for the album.[13] Pitchfork Media named "Style" the 50th best song of 2014.[14]
The song first debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 60 due to strong sales of parent album 1989 but fell off the week after. Following her live performance at the 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show the song re-entered the charts in the week ending December 18 and moved to number 75 with sales of 48,000 copies.[15] It has so far reached number 18 on the Hot 100.[16] As of January 2015, "Style" has sold 450,672 digital units in the United States.[17]
On February 10, 2015, Swift posted a teaser for the music video and its release date on Instagram. The video showed Swift's head and steam/smoke tendrils rising up her neck. A second teaser was posted on Swift's social media accounts the next day, depicting shadowy trees on her back. A third teaser was released showing lightning and two different colored eyes being projected onto Swift as she stands against a blank backdrop.[18] The video was scheduled to be released on Good Morning America on February 13, 2015, but leaked a few hours early.[19]
Swift first performed it live as part of Taylor Swift's 1989 Secret Session with iHeartRadio on October 27, 2014 in New York City, streamed on iHeartRadio and Yahoo! Swift later performed "Style" alongside with "Blank Space" during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014.[20]
Chart (2014–15) | Peak position |
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Australia (ARIA)[21] | 8 |
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[22] | 16 |
Canada AC (Billboard)[23] | 44 |
Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[24] | 8 |
Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[25] | 20 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[26] | 11 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[27] | 147 |
US Billboard Hot 100[16] | 18 |
US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[28] | 15 |
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[29] | 29 |
US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[30] | 10 |
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[31] | 31 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[32] | Gold | 35,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[33] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | February 9, 2015 | Hot adult contemporary | Big Machine, Republic | [2] |
February 10, 2015 | Contemporary hit radio | [34] | ||
Rhythmic contemporary | [35] |
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