Taylor Swift announced Saturday that she re-recorded eight tracks from “The Life of a Showgirl” in acoustic versions with her co-producers Max Martin and Shellback, which will appear on four limited-edition CDs she has just put on sale in her webstore.
“File this under ‘save your best for the finale,’” she wrote on her social media accounts. “I think my favorite moments from the tour were the acoustic surprises. So I went back into the studio with Max and Shellback to record acoustic/unplugged versions of a few of the ‘Showgirl’ songs with brand new vocals and production! Cannot WAIT for you to hear.”
Besides offering two acoustic bonus tracks each, the four CDs also feature fresh cover images, several of which fans will recognize as coming from the shoot for the new music video for “The Fate of Ophelia,” as seen in movie theaters this weekend and on YouTube as of Sunday night.
One CD, dubbed the “Life Is A Song Acoustic Version,” will include “Opalite (Life Is A Song Acoustic Version)” and “Ruin the Friendship (My Advice Version)” as the bonus tracks. Another, called “Dressing Room Rehearsal Version,” will feature “Wi$h Li$t (Settled Down Acoustic Version)” and “The Life of a Showgirl (Dressing Room Rehearsal Acoustic Version).”
A third, “Alone In My Tower Acoustic Version,” has “The Fate of Ophelia (Alone In My Tower Acoustic Version)” and “Eldest Daughter (Now You’re Home Acoustic Version)” as its added attractions. And the fourth new CD, “So Glamorous Cabaret Version,” includes two versions of the same track, one of which is a voice memo demo rather than a new recording: “Elizabeth Taylor (So Glamorous Cabaret Version)” and “Elizabeth Taylor (Original Songwriting Voice Memo).”
The four CD editions were announced as being on her site “for 24 hours or while supplies last” and are priced at $7.99 each.
Sales for these CDs should count toward her first-week sales, assuming they do ship in the coming week.
As announced earlier Saturday, Taylor Swift already sold 2.7 million copies of “Showgirl” on the first day, the second-highest weekly tally for an album in Soundscan/Luminate history. If these CDs are pressed in high quantities, they could go some way toward helping it beat the all-time record of 3.4 million set by Adele’s “25” in 2015.