Taylor Swift's music may be tied to her personal relationships, but the pop star has not been doing much dating these days.

Swift has admitted that she hasn't dated anyone in more than 18 months.

"I get stressed when I think about getting into a relationship because I get beat up in the press whenever I go near a boy," she said. "So you can understand why I'm taking a bit of a break. A relationship is not in my brain right now."

Swift also said that whenever she does date, it ends up being scandalous, but as a 24-year-old, it should be something completely normal. The singer added that it would take a lot to get her to give up the single life.

"Staying single has been the best thing I have done," she said. "I'm not wary of getting into another relationship. I'm just protective of my independence and freedom, more protective than I have been before."

She said that previously she felt that having someone to love and having them love her back seemed like a feeling she couldn't top. But eventually, she realized that she needed to love herself, too.

Swift has a new album coming out on Oct. 27. The album "1989" will have 13 songs.

These days the artist says she is living life on her terms, and it's reflected in the kind of music she's now making.

"Shake It Off," her first single from her new album, talked about how she dealt with criticism. It's a complete 180 from when she wrote "Mean."

"Four years ago I put out a song called 'Mean' from the perspective of 'Why are you picking on me? Why can I never do anything right in your eyes?'" she said. "It was coming from a semi-defeated place."

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 10, 2014 at 2:51pm PDT