Hey Swifties! I'm Sam Lansky, and this is my column Pop Think, the space where I get to gush endlessly about the music things that I love the most. And my current obsession is, of course, the new Taylor Swift single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," which premiered the week before last and instantly skyrocketed to No. 1 on the Hot 100, smashing all kinds of records along the way. (No big deal or anything.) My love for Taylor has been well-documented in this space, so it should come as no surprise that I've basically had the track on repeat for the last 10 days, even though it's a departure from many of the things I love most about Taylor's sound.

Unlike a lot of her pop-tart contemporaries, Taylor has always been behind the steering wheel when it comes to her music, her vision, and her career. Her collaborations have been with an intimate team of co-writers and producers who have helped her execute her signature sound -- pop-country laced with dark, vulnerable lyrics that betray the levity of the radio-friendly production and fairytale imagery. But with this new single, she's taking things in a different direction. And this week, I'm exploring why it's the smartest thing Taylor could have done.

World? Meet Taylor Swift, version 2.0.

Taylor Swift's new single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" was co-written and produced by the Swedish super-producer Max Martin (and his frequent production partner Shellback), and you can tell: At first listen, the song sounds more like a Max Martin single than it does like Taylor Swift. The propulsive percussion, as aggressive and throbbing as Martin's work on "Teenage Dream"; a melody that's supernaturally infectious; and lyrics that are likably adolescent. Several reviewers compared the song to Avril Lavigne, which fits: It's more Hot Topic than Grand Ole Opry.

But in embracing her over-this-ish exhaustion (literally, she groans in the spoken-word interlude, "This is exhausting!"), Taylor is triumphantly resigned to not allow herself to waste a minute more on self-pity. Gone are the melancholy days of mourning the one that got away. This Taylor Swift — the Red-era Taylor Swift — gets to close the door on being wounded, and even more irresistible as the lonesome Taylor who did all that hurting. I'm confident that Taylor is over.

Find out more about Taylor Swift's new direction after the jump.

The fact that she collaborated with Max Martin on the song (a legendary hit-maker responsible for more than ten No. 1 smashes in the last five years, which is kind of a lot) — is what interests me most though, since it demonstrates a fearlessness (sorry) on Taylor's part. She wrote every track on her last album, Speak Now, herself — no co-writers at all. For Red, she worked with as many talented people as she could find — and although details as to whom, exactly, this includes are few and far between, the impulse is an admirable one. She proved that she was capable of exceptional songcraft on her own with her last record, but it's tough to evolve artistically in creative isolation; teaming up with other greats gives her more freedom to experiment.

It's tempting to compare "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" with "Mine," which blew me out of the water as a surprisingly adult, measured, and poignant coming-of-age song, all retrospective reflection. This new single does something even tougher by summoning the frustration of an on-again off-again romance and packing it into a three-minute pop wonder. It's a new side of Taylor, but a very welcome one.

+ DON'T MISS TAYLOR SWIFT'S LIVE PERFORMANCE AT THE 2012 MTV VMAS ON THURSDAY, SEPT. 2!