Taylor Swift has been keeping the pop culture world on its toes with two surprise releases, Folklore and Evermore, in 2020 and the re-releases of two earlier albums, Fearless and Red, in 2021. Swift has explored several music genres and many themes in her 18-year career. It is no shock to anyone that the infamous workaholic and singer-songwriter would drop even more new music in her newest album, Midnights.
Midnights marks Swift’s return to pop music after her debut in the folk-indie world on her two previous albums. It explores 13 different nights throughout her life, each with their own stories to tell. She kept the complex lyrics and dictionary-search worthy words in the album, of which she stated she was too afraid to use before Folklore and Evermore. Production on the album was chiefly done by one of today’s most favorite producers, Jack Antonoff.
At surface level, we see many ideas that Swift has contemplated before. The ideas of love, loss, and regret. Living with all eyes on you. The album stays true to the concept of restless, thoughtful nights with songs dealing with self-awareness and self-reflection. “Anti-Hero” might be the obvious example with the line “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.” However, many other songs allude to these themes in a much more delicate and intimate way. “Mastermind” details Swift’s belief that everyone in her life has been manipulated and moved into those exact positions by none other than herself. “Midnight Rain” talks about a relationship that Swift should have and would have loved but was not right for her and ultimately ended by her.
Midnights also explores happier feelings that might keep one up at night. Themes of love, bliss, and confidence find themselves in these songs. “Snow On The Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey)” deals with falling in love with someone at the same time as you and all the wonderful feelings that come with it. “Sweet Nothing” describes the joy of finding someone you can love and be content for the rest of your life. “Bejeweled” describes finding yourself after having lost who you are in someone.
All in all, it’s hard for an artist with as much will power and experience as Taylor Swift to deliver a disappointing album, and that is certainly not what happened here. Midnights does what Taylor Swift does best: encapsulates feelings and ideas a wide variety of people can relate to and puts them into songs anyone can listen to. While it is hard to top what many critics argue is her best album yet, Folklore, Midnights certainly puts up a fight for the spot.
