Swift originally wrote "Babe" with Train singer Patrick Monahan for her 2012 album, Red
Taylor Swift is turning up the heat in Sugarland's new music!
The country group premiered the trailer for "Babe," their collaboration with Swift, during the 2018 CMT Awards on Wednesday. In the video, the Reputation songstress joins Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, along with Legends of Tomorrow star Brandon Routh in a retro drama that features Swift as a fiery redhead, who seems to be the other woman in Nettles and Routh's marriage.
The full video, which drops June 9, looks to be a Mad Men-style melodrama, complete with bright throwback fashions, martini dinners and tense moments in the office.
"It's your favorite summer movie you haven't seen yet," Bush told ET's Nancy O'Dell ahead of the clip's debut. "It's red-headed Taylor. Which I think is... it could be a giveaway if you're a Mad Men fan, but maybe not."
"It's cinematic," Nettles agreed, adding that Swift actually wrote the treatment for the video and helped shape the look. "It's a period piece, if you will."
Swift originally wrote "Babe" with Train singer Patrick Monahan for her 2012 album, Red.
“She’s very confessional in what she does with her songwriting," Nettles teased to O’Dell at the CMA Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, back in April. "She lives her life out there through it, and you will see.”
Bush shared that the collaboration came about after Swift, who is a longtime Sugarland fan, called up the duo wanting to work with them.
“She was gracious enough to reach out to us when she heard we were coming back together and doing a record,” Bush said. “She said, 'I have a song, would you like to do it?' And we said, ‘Uh, yeah!’ I was a little anxious. I didn't want to mess it up!”
“But she loved it and wanted [us] to be a part of it, which is exciting,” Nettles added. “She said, ‘I have a song,’ and we said, ‘OK. Send it over.’”
Nettles pointed out that while it’s “so sweet” that Swift is a fan, the two acts have been on similar paths with their careers, so it’s only fitting that a collaboration came about.
“When she started out, we were just starting out,” Nettles explained. “Like, she has our EP that we did before we were even signed. This little EP that we signed for her. It's a nice full circle, for sure. She's a fantastic songwriter. One of the best.”
