Taylor Swift’s indie squad adds Dr. Dog’s Eric Slick

Taylor Swift is releasing her re-recorded version of 2008’s Fearless on April 9, and she’s promised fans that this Fearless would feature some songs “from the vault” that were written during that era but didn’t make the cut the first time around. The first preview of this previously unheard material is “You All Over Me,” which is now streaming. The song features Maren Morris on backing vocals and it’s a return to Swift’s country roots, tackling a theme she excelled at in her earliest recordings: heartache. But just because this is a country song, that doesn’t mean Swift hasn’t held onto the indie influences that shaped her most recent albums.

Clearly, she found a perfect songwriting partnership in Aaron Dessner, who produced “You All Over Me” and lends his talents to the track’s piano, guitar, and synthesizers. But there’s another new indie addition: Dr. Dog’s Eric Slick, who plays drums for the song.

In a quote exclusive to The A.V. Club, Slick tells how he was invited to play on the song:

A few weeks ago, my old Philadelphia friend Jon Low texted me about playing on some songs. Jon had worked on some Dr. Dog stuff years ago, and we also did the Daniel Rossen EP together. Most importantly, we do a morning tabata class together, so I said sure. I immediately got nervous because it could’ve been anything. I received some tracks and then Aaron Dessner gave me a call with some basic instructions. I had no idea what I was playing on—and now it’s Taylor Swift’s “You All Over Me!” I am so humbled that Jon and Aaron asked and I am still in disbelief that I got to work with two incredibly generous and brilliant musicians. When I got into playing music, I never assumed that anyone would be listening. It’s still a trip to get asked to play on songs and I try not to take it for granted.

Obviously the follow-up to Slick playing on “You All Over Me” is Swift contributing to the indie-rock tradition of covering Architecture In Helsinki’s “Heart It Races.”