October 20 was a sleepless night for Swifties everywhere.
After Taylor Swift announced the release of her tenth studio album, coined “TS10″ by fans, practically the entire internet spiraled into a frenzy – and in less than 24 hours following the album’s release, Swift broke the record for most single-day streams of an album in Spotify history.
At USC, campus was buzzing, both when the original 13-track album was released, and again three hours later when the artist released seven bonus tracks. The album could be heard echoing in the halls of Birnkrant Residential College and outside Leavey Library near McCarthy Quad as students engaged in the magical experience of listening to one of Swift’s masterpieces for the first time.
Swifties have craved a new concept album following the 2021 releases of re-recordings “Red (Taylor’s Version)” and “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”, and “Midnights” came just as her fans grew concerned that she would release new music only after she finished re-recording the remaining four albums, “Taylor Swift,” “Speak Now,” “1989,” and “reputation.”
With “Midnights,” Swift responded to demand from fans with an album that excels in transporting listeners into the frantic, magical fever dream that defines her career and personal life – guiding Swifties through experiences that are so uniquely hers, while capitalizing on conveying feelings that nearly any listener can relate to.
Swift’s approach with the album, leading listeners through “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout [her] life,” resulted in a diverse compilation of sounds that reflect her critically-acclaimed albums.
“Lavender Haze” and “Maroon” serve as a strong kickoff to the album with flawless vocals and powerful production elements similar to “I Think He Knows” from her seventh studio album “Lover” and “King of My Heart” from “reputation.”
But the record’s first lyrical standout is track three, lead single “Anti-Hero.” An upbeat yet lyrically dreary track, Swift reflects on the toll that her life in the spotlight has taken on her: “When my depression works the graveyard shift / All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room / I should not be left to my own devices / They come with prices and vices, I end up in crisis.” Unlike so many of Swift’s previous tracks, rather than calling out those who have wronged her, the artist rather reflects on her own faults and flaws in the track’s chorus: “It’s me / Hi / I’m the problem, it’s me.” While Swift has mastered the art of storytelling, her willingness to share her struggles with mental health and body image unlocks a new level of vulnerability for the artist only previously seen in her 2020 documentary “Miss Americana.”
The album’s only track featuring another artist, “Snow On The Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey),” sets a more somber tone for the next portion of the record. Despite the hype surrounding this highly anticipated collaboration between two of the most notable names in the music industry, the track was a letdown, as Del Rey only contributed backing vocals. While the track does succeed in creating an ambient aura for listeners following an upbeat introduction to the album, the lack of a Del Rey verse was a disappointment.
However, the album’s next track, “You’re On Your Own, Kid” makes up for the missed opportunities that taint “Snow On The Beach.” The gut-wrenching ballad is a breakthrough for Swift, fusing all of her strengths into three minutes and 14 seconds of perfectly curated heartbreak. On this track, Swift and her praised longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff dive deeper into the themes introduced on “Anti-Hero” and “this is me trying” from Swift’s eighth studio album “folklore.” Her unparalleled vocal range lends to a poetic masterpiece of a bridge: “From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes / I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this / I hosted parties and starved my body / Like I’d be saved by a perfect kiss.” Listening to the track is transformative – the emotions of isolation, loneliness and betrayal that the song outlines cause listeners to experience all stages of grief at once.
The middle of the album, while still succeeding in showcasing both old and new sounds and Swift’s clear vocal talent, exposes some of the album’s minor faults. “Question…?” displays one of the record’s notable downfalls – lyrics that are occasionally too specific or odd for listeners to relate to, as seen in the track’s chorus when Swift sings “Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room / And every single one of your friends was makin’ fun of you / But fifteen seconds later, they were clappin’ too?”
The lyrics of “Vigilante S***,” a track mirroring the themes of “reputation,” highlight this same issue, with verses stating “She had the envelope, where you think she got it from? / Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride / Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife.” These oddly specific lyrics take away from one of Swift’s clearest strengths – her ability to foster a deep emotional connection with listeners – and creates a sense that Swift is simply word-dumping rather than employing her skill for beautifully packaging a complete, relatable story in just a few minutes.
But somehow, by pairing some of the album’s strangely particular lyrics with an upbeat bassline, Swift presents listeners with some of the best bops of her discography. “Karma,” track 11, showcases this strange phenomenon. Attempting to figure out what Swift is communicating in lyrics such as “Karma is my boyfriend / Karma is a God” and “Karma is a cat / Purring in my lap ‘cause it loves me” is impossible, but the track still serves as a serotonin-boosting earworm regardless.
“Sweet Nothing” presents a complete shift in terms of both lyrical composition and musical style. A mix of “New Year’s Day” from “reputation” and “invisible string” from “folklore,” the track, written by Swift and “William Bowery” (a not-so-indiscreet pseudonym for the artist’s partner of six years Joe Alwyn), conveys the comfort and security Swift’s relationship provides. The singer paints the relationship as an escape from her public life polluted with “industry disruptors and soul deconstructors.” She explains that “Evеryone’s up to something / I found myself a-running home to your sweet nothings / Outside they’re push and shoving / You’re in the kitchen hummin’ / All that you ever wanted from me was nothing.” The track’s lullaby-like sound and wholesome lyrics juxtapose the album’s deeper themes of trauma, guilt and self-hatred, contributing to the album’s contrasting lightheartedness and complexity.
While Swift’s originality in creating a diverse album that compiles her most celebrated sounds, styles and themes is worth appreciation, the record does feel disjointed and inconsistent at times, lacking the sense of unity that set preceding sister albums “folklore” and “evermore” apart. However, this lack of cohesion is a natural result of her decision to meld an array of emotions, stories and plot points in her rise to fame, and many of the album’s tracks individually still serve as musical gems.
“Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” the bonus track marking a powerful punch on the last leg of the record before the album’s melancholic closer “Dear Reader,” is the epitome of a classic Taylor Swift post-breakup banger. The track’s eerie introduction and electric guitar riffs set the stage for the rollercoaster of rage that Swift has constructed through her lyrics: “I would’ve stayed on my knees / And I damn sure never would’ve danced with the devil / At nineteen.” While fans speculate the song is about the artist’s tumultuous past relationship with John Mayer, the emotions the track evokes – regret and self-loathing – are themes any listener can connect with. The song’s top-tier production quality accompanied by Swift’s heated tone and the outro’s octave change serve as the perfect cap to the emotionally-charged tales of “Midnights.”
A poetic patchwork of fresh sounds and the musical styles she has mastered throughout her remarkable career, “Midnights’' marks the revival, celebration and evolution of Swift’s previous works. The singer’s new spin on eternally relevant themes guides listeners on a vibrant journey through the painful yet liberating stages of personal growth: “break up, break free, break through, break down.”
The digital format of “Midnights” retails for $14.99, and it can be streamed on most major streaming platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud and Amazon Music.