‘Midnights’ reaffirms Taylor Swift’s icon status, proves she is a ‘Mastermind’

Athena Markowski
Tue, 25 Oct 2022 00:34:55 +0000
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Taylor Swift attends the “All Too Well” New York premiere on Nov. 12, 2021, in New York City. Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris via TNS

Fans, critics and even haters met Taylor Swift at midnight, and she did not disappoint.

Her 10th studio album, “Midnights,” was announced at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards after Swift won Video of the Year for “All Too Well: The Short Film” and revealed the album in her speech. In an Instagram post, Swift said the album is composed of “stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.”

The anticipation for this record reached new heights, as it is her first new album since 2020’s “evermore,” and Swift capitalized on the buzz. Leading up to the release, she teased fans with a social media series entitled “Midnights Mayhem With Me” in which she released each track’s name.

The Oct. 21 release was forecasted to hit huge numbers — and hit it did. “Midnights” became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day, garnering almost 185 million streams, according to Spotify. She also tallied 228 million streams across her entire discography, becoming the most-streamed artist in a single day in Spotify history. The album also broke the all-time record for the biggest album release on Apple Music worldwide, according to the streaming platform’s Twitter.

The album starts with arguably her discography’s best opening song. An upbeat pop tune, “Lavender Haze” takes digs at the media’s obsession with her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn. It also discusses societal pressures women face to be married, claiming, “the only kinda girl they see is a one night or a wife.”

The lead single “Anti-Hero” joins the list of Swift’s “anxiety songs,” as some fans refer to tracks, such as “The Archer” and “mirrorball.” She continues the lyric “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me,” throughout the song, showcasing a tendency for people to blame themselves for everything. She compares herself to a monster “too big to hang out,” and shares her fear that deep down she is a villain.

Swift has a history of penning gut-wrenching track fives, with “All Too Well,” “Dear John” and “my tears ricochet” all holding esteemed places in her discography. “You’re On Your Own, Kid” continues this tradition, telling the story of the pains of growing up and struggling to fit in. The track seems to be the deeper, darker sister of “Fifteen,” particularly as it discusses her struggles with disordered eating and changing herself for others.

“Snow On The Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey)” was hyped up by fans in the weeks leading up to the release, yet left many underwhelmed since Rey only provides backing vocals. Sonically, the song brings the best of Swift and Rey together, a mixture of Swift’s stunning lyricism and Rey’s signature ethereal sound.

“Sweet Nothing,” a lovely ballad about the peace of being in a healthy relationship, hits even harder when you realize the only co-writer on it is William Bowery — the alias of Alwyn himself, according to Billboard. The two tell the story of their love and how they do not have high expectations for one another in the way the world does.

“Midnights” continues to prove that Swift’s strength lies in her writing. She expertly phrases what it feels like to fall in love after heartbreak with the lyrics “I thought the plane was going down, how’d you turn it right around?” in “Labyrinth.” She even returns to a symbol from “folklore” that sees a lover “[showing] me colors you know I can’t see with anyone else.” In “Question…?” she said an ex “painted all my nights a color I have searched for since.” This creates a dialogue between her own albums, a complexity many artists are not able to achieve.

On the back end of the album, “Karma” stands out as a bop, but the lyricism is not sacrificed for its bright tune. Singing “Karma’s a relaxing thought, aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?,” the song continues the theme of revenge, yet holds the idea that the universe will enact that revenge. She said Alwyn is her good karma for everything she’s been through: “Karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me.”

The album closes with “Mastermind,” a track that is, once again, perfectly placed. Swift is known for dropping creative Easter eggs about her music in everything she does, keeping Swifties on edge. In “Mastermind,” she admits to the idea that every action of hers is calculated, even down to manifesting Alwyn into her life.

However, it would not be a Taylor Swift release without a chaotic surprise — three hours after the initial midnight drop, Swift released seven additional songs, giving merit to many online theories that this would be a double album.

The additional tracks are darker than the rest of the album. Swift said in a release on Instagram “Midnights” tells a complete story with the original 13, and these extras were written in the process of finding that “magic 13.”

From “Midnights (3am edition),” “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” stands above the rest. The song is assumed to be about her relationship with a then-32-year-old John Mayer when she was 19. Screaming “Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first” strikes similarities to “Dear John,” as in both songs, Swift reflects on and regrets a relationship with an older man who treated her poorly. This song just so happens to be track 19, a small detail only Swift could think of.

All in all, “Midnights” features a vulnerable, at-peace Swift –– the record carries an air of “cool girl energy” and proves her pop music is just as strong as her indie hits. Even non-Taylor Swift fans will enjoy this record, as its range, from hot-pop to classic emotional ballads, has something for everyone. Lyrically and sonically, Swift once again created a masterpiece that is objectively a new-age hit.

Rating: 5/5