MIDNIGHTS-Taylor Swift
Rating: 10/10
Last Friday, world-renowned popstar Taylor Swift released her 10th original studio album, Midnights. After previously hyping said album up with a reveal at the 2022 Video Music Awards and a series of TikTok videos using a bingo ball roller to reveal each of the 13 tracks, Midnights released at midnight on Friday, immediately garnering widespread praise from around the globe. Within its first day of release, Midnights broke the Spotify streaming records for the most streamed album in a single day and most streamed artist in a single day. On other platforms, Midnights became Apple Music’s most streamed pop album on its first day and Amazon Music’s most Alexa requests. In the first 3 days, the album cranked out 1.2 million physical copies and is already considered a major commercial success a week after release.
Midnights is the first pop album from Taylor Swift since the release of her controversial album Lover in 2019. Since then, Taylor dabbled in the folk genre with the 2020 releases of Folklore and Evermore and has worked on expanded rereleases of her previous albums Fearless and Red. However, Midnights has a notably different sound than her previous pop albums, taking certain musical themes from them, but incorporating much darker and personal lyricism. On the first track, “Lavender Haze”, Taylor begins the album with a dark and hazy track full of heavy percussion that details her struggles with the media speculation around her relationship with Joe Alwyn. Lyrically, “Lavender Haze” is similar to tracks from earlier albums such as “Cruel Summer,” featuring Taylor fighting back against the rest of the world’s rumors, dismissing the “1950s sh** they want from me.”
“Anti-Hero” is notably one of the darkest songs on Midnights, dealing with what many of our sleepless nights revolve around, overthinking and self-hatred.
Taylor blatantly throws this out in the line, “It’s me / Hi! / I’m the problem / It’s me,” followed up by, “I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror.” The act of staring at the sun may be self-destructive, but Taylor would rather do this than face her problems in the mirror. Sonically, “Anti-Hero” delivers a thumping pop beat that provides a nice contrast from the lyrics as well as a light melody that boosts Taylor’s vocal performance.
“Midnight Rain” changes up the sound of the song up until this point, delivering something not too dissimilar to that of Lorde’s smash hit album Melodrama with driving percussion and lush synths that make the song especially dark in a sea of moody tracks. “Midnight Rain” is about wondering what could have been in a relationship, with him wanting a family and Taylor, “chasing that fame.”
The tracks “Vigilante Sh**” and “Karma” are a departure from the previous tracks, plotting vengeance against Taylor’s enemies and watching them fall from grace, reminiscent of her 2017 album Reputation. The closing track “Mastermind” sees Taylor plotting to catch someone in her love trap, nodding to her reputation of dropping absurd clues to her fans, saying “I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian ‘cause I care.”
Midnights offers a very refreshing take on Taylor’s pop sound, offering deep and personal vocals matched with dark and hazy lyrics that provide for her most unique and wonderful collection of songs yet.
Reviewer’s Ranking:
1. Lavender Haze
2. Anti-Hero
3. Mastermind
4. Bejeweled
5. Midnight Rain
6. Karma
7. Question…?
8. Snow On The Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey)
9. You’re On Your Own, Kid
10. Vigilante Sh**
11. Labyrinth
12. Sweet Nothing
13. Maroon
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