It’s clear that Taylor Swift’s indie music era has come to an end. Midnights, Taylor Swift’s tenth studio album (twelfth, if you include the recent “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings of Red and Fearless), dropped when the clock struck twelve on Oct 21, 2022. An insightful look into Taylor’s life (and love life), the album is filled with upbeat pop hits and a couple of slower ballads. Reminding fans and critics strongly of Swift’s fifth album 1989, Taylor Swift dives right back into the comfort of pop music. Throwing in some vengeful songs similar to those found in Reputation, the album is filled with dance beats and lyrics to scream to in the car—see “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” “Anti-Hero,” or “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”.
Midnights is Swift’s eleventh album to top the Billboard charts and landed her the largest album debut of the year with a whopping 1.578 million units sold. Swift claims that the album is made up of “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life” (not including bonus tracks found in the 3am edition, of course). Jack Antonoff, lead singer of the band Bleachers and Taylor’s partner-in-crime in most musical ventures lately, was the main co-writer on this album. Antonoff was not the only celebrity appearance, however. Lana Del Ray has a feature on “Snow on the Beach”, one of the few songs on the new album that would fit right in on Folklore or Evermore. Dylan O’Brien plays drums in the same song.
Though some were not terribly impressed with the first listen, there are definitely lots of standout songs. This album is the kind that grows on you until it becomes the soundtrack to your life. As you listen more and more, you get to appreciate Swift’s incredible lyricism and storytelling capabilities. With songs inspiring TikTok dances and Instagram trends, it’s safe to say that Swift tends to the masses and cranks out radio-ready music with each new album.