Taylor Swift’s 10^th studio album “Midnights” marks the artist’s glorious return to pop.
The album, which Swift describes as “the story of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout [her] life,” is definitely one of her more vulnerable works, but not her best (and yet, not her worst).
Swift takes listeners through thoughts and memories that kept her up at night. However, it sounds like the memories in each track are not ones that haunt her, but ones that she is processing and accepting.
Here’s a rundown of the album and some of the tracks:
The album starts off strong with “Lavender Haze,” which I thought was the perfect opening track because it really sets the tone for the album, especially with the first line being “Meet me at midnight.” The song is really about the feeling of falling in love, and that love staying strong even through all the rumors about her relationship in the tabloids.
The album’s lead single “Anti-Hero” is one of the tracks that showcases Swift’s catchy and quirky pop sound that she does so well. Though the song’s music video may seem a bit corny in ways, it does touch on heavy topics and its lyrics dive straight into some of Swift’s deepest and darkest insecurities.
As a devoted “1989” apologist, I was extremely excited when I heard the first line of “Question…?” was a sample from her “1989” track “Out Of The Woods.” I think this “Midnights” track sounds like it could blend in among the other “1989” tracks, which is probably why I was drawn to it. However, I was not a huge fan of the voice effects at the end of the bridge.
“Karma” has that addicting sound that I’ve been chasing ever since her “1989” era. She sings about how she’s watching all the bad karma come right back around to those who wronged her, while all her good karma is coming right back to her. The lyrics “my pennies made your crown” seem to be a jab at her former label manager Scooter Braun, who owns the masters to her first six albums and, therefore, is the reason why she is re-recording those albums.
She continues singing about her good karma in the ridiculously endearing “Sweet Nothing,” a romantic ballad that Swift co-wrote with her boyfriend Joe Alwyn, who goes by the pseudonym “William Bowery” in Swift’s song credits.
Following the love ballad is “Mastermind,” a song about how she crafted a plan to make her boyfriend fall in love with her. It’s not as mischievous as it sounds, though, and the song is mostly her acknowledging and making fun of the fact that she did this. The song takes a turn during the bridge when she sings, “No one wanted to play with me as a little kid / So I’ve been scheming like a criminal ever since / To make them love me and make it seem effortless.” This gives the listener a bit of insight into why everything she does is so well thought out.
Jack Antonoff, who Swift has worked with on numerous projects, is listed as a co-writer and co-producer on “Midnights.” Though I typically like what he produces, I think Antonoff’s use of voice effects and synth on this album seemed a bit redundant at times.
Producers can help the artist capture their own unique sound, which Antonoff does and has done in the past with Swift and other artists. However, Antonoff has his own sound too as a producer, and I think that sound shines through at weird times throughout the album. Nonetheless, the album has been a major success for Swift.
In less than 24 hours, “Midnights” broke records across multiple streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. The album became the most streamed album in a day on Spotify with more than 185 million streams, also making Swift the most streamed artist in a single day on the platform. “Midnights” is dominating the global charts and breaking records.
Swift announced there would be a “chaotic surprise” at 3 a.m. following the album’s midnight release. Just hours later, she released a deluxe version titled “Midnights (3am Edition)” with seven additional tracks, making it a sleepless night for fans.
While “Midnights” is great, I think if you choose to listen to the album, “Midnights (3am Edition)” is the way to go. The seven additional tracks are worth it.