Review

LYDIA HARGETT NEWS EDITOR

Located in Ypsilanti, Cultivate Coffee and Tap House is the perfect place to sit with friends and sip on an iced tea or latte. A wide variety of coffee drinks are offered including cold brew, lattes and espressos, and they also serve many tea flavors from green to black. I recommend the iced honey cinnamon latte as well as the iced earl grey black tea, and the staff is more than welcome to help you decide on a drink. Their prices are not too expensive and milk modifications or extra syrups are available to add to your drinks. If you are of age, they also serve beer on tap or prepackaged. Inside, the space is very modern and clean with plenty of seating options that are spaced out, following COVID-19 regulations. They also have picnic tables outside if you prefer to enjoy the fresh air. Online ordering is available as well as contactless payment inside.

GRAPHICS BY ALLISON MI

Popular among students to hang out and study, Vertex

Coffee Roasters is located on South University Ave, in downtown Ann Arbor. The cafe offers a simple menu with espressos, lattes and teas for you to enjoy. A few of my favorites are the iced vanilla latte with oat milk and their iced chai tea latte, which is made with their own chai recipe. Their prices are fair, and cost around four or five dollars per drink. Milk and syrup add-ons are available for around 50 cents and they have many options to choose from. Because of COVID-19 regulations, the shop is unfortunately not offering indoor seating at this time, but there are many outdoor tables available. The shop sells their own coffee with a wide variety of flavors and roasts, along with stickers and t-shirts with the Vertex logo. All of the baristas are extremely kind and the shop is definitely a great place to grab coffee if you are near downtown.

Fearless (Taylor’s Version): The songs have changed but so has she

ANITA GAENKO STAFF WRITER

If “Old Taylor” died in 2017 with the release of “Reputation”, then this is “New Taylor” paying her respects. From the very beginning of the first track, “Fearless,” it’s obvious that Taylor Swift’s voice changed since she was 18 years old. It’s softer and richer. Listening to the old version of Fearless seems almost pitchy in comparison on the high notes. The instrumental also seems quieter on most songs in Swift’s new album. “Taylor’s Version” is a calmer and smoother version of Fearless. For songs like “Fifteen,” “Breathe,” “You’re Not Sorry” and “White Horse,” it fits the theme. “Fifteen” is melancholy and nostalgic, “Breathe” relies heavily on vocals with very simplistic lyrics and “You’re Not Sorry” and “White Horse” are heartbreak songs. As shown in her last two albums, her vocal control has gotten better on high notes. She’s also gone through much more heartbreak since 2008, so there’s naturally more weight behind her melancholy songs. But some of “Fearless’” songs are best with the edge of her younger voice, notably “You Belong With Me” and “Tell Me Why.” This isn’t just for nostalgic reasons. They’re angrier, rougher and more desperate songs in concept, and Taylor just isn’t as angry or desperate anymore. It’s probably been years since she sat on bleachers and wrote jealous songs like “You Belong With Me” about some evil teenage cheerleader dating the guy she’s in love with; it feels strange to hear it from her 31-yearold self. Arguably her most popular song from “Fearless,” “Love Story” sounds better from 2021 Taylor, and not just because of her older voice. “Love Story” is a “happy ending” song, and when she was 18, she was several media circuses and failed relationships away from her happy ending. Now that Taylor is in a happy, overfour-year relationship that she has kept a comfortable distance from the press, “Love Story” makes more sense to her, and she’s able to properly sing a lighthearted song without it feeling fake. A song like “Fifteen,” which is about not understanding love as a teenager, also makes more sense from a 31-year-old woman than a girl who was technically still a teenager. Some re-recorded songs, even though they’re enjoyable, are almost childish from her now, like “The Way I Loved You.” The glamorization of a toxic past relationship over a comfortable and healthy one seems like an antithesis to everything Taylor sings about now.

As for her From The Vault songs, which were previously unreleased, some tracks shine through, and some blend into the background vibe of the entire album. Some personal favorites are the piano version of “Forever & Always”, “The Other Side Of The Door”, “That’s When” (featuring Keith Urban) and “Mr. Perfectly Fine” — a song that deserves extra note for reportedly being a song about Joe Jonas (which his wife, Sophie Turner, seems to enjoy). Taylor Swift’s talent has always been in her versatility across genres and moods, so there’s something for almost everyone in these tracks. She gets extra points for this album being a massive insult to the owners of her original albums. The rights to Taylor’s first six studio albums were acquired by Scooter Braun when he bought her old record company, Big Machine Records. She tried to buy back her albums, but claimed that she was offered impossible conditions. Taylor’s re-recording of the albums has allowed her to regain rights to her back catalog without any profit going to Braun. She reclaimed her art, significantly improved it and she certainly seems to enjoy the process, especially if she can drive her fans crazy along the way. Four out of her nine albums are officially owned by her as of April 9, 2021. Overall, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is a solid 8.5 out of 10. You can listen to it on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music.