What an exciting week for Swifties! The 11-time Grammy Award winner released her tenth studio album on Friday at midnight, appropriately named “Midnights.” In true Taylor Swift fashion, release night was full of surprises, Easter eggs and, for some, tears both happy and sad. Whether you’re a fan or not, there’s a good chance you have something to say about the country-turned-pop-turned-folk-rock-turned-pop-again singer. Meredith McCabe produced this report.
Midnights is already topping charts - it quickly broke Spotify’s record for the most streamed album in a single day. Fans stayed up through the night awaiting the release of her thirteen songs. If you’re a Swiftie, you’ll know that Taylor’s favorite number is thirteen, and, as fans would have you convinced, the singer doesn’t do anything by accident.
Freshman communication major Grace Oh has been listening to the album on repeat.
GRACE OH: I really did like it. Maroon is my favorite song right now.
Swift surprised fans at 3 a.m. by releasing seven more songs. She wrote on Instagram that whereas the first thirteen songs signify the intensities of “that mystifying, mad hour,” the seven additional tracks provide a glimpse into her journey in finding the “magic 13.”
The singer released her first album - a series of country songs about love and heartbreak - in 2006. Since then, she has broken records, performed in sold-out stadiums and re-recorded some of her old music in a move to take ownership of the tracks. Despite her genre-shifting career, Swift has managed to maintain a strong fanbase - 229 million followers on Instagram to be precise.
Here’s Sol Yoo, a junior politcal science and communication major.
SUL YOO: We kind of grew up with her, and the audience that she currently has, like we’ve seen her like really progress through the genres and we’re trying to we just eat up everything that she puts out, honestly.
International relations and global economy major Zahra Raja attributes Swift’s success to the quality of her songs and her ability to relate to listeners.
ZAHRA RAJA: I think she’s really relatable to a lot of women, and I think so much of her message is female empowerment and being as authentic as she can to herself. And the genuineness of her lyrics, I feel like draws a lot of people in.
While Swift is most well-known for her breakup songs often alluding to one of her famous exes, Midnights explores topics like self-hatred and commentary on scheming fans. For some, this was a welcomed change. Esquire called the album her “most revealing music yet.”
Grace Oh, a freshman communication major, talked about the success of Midnights in relation to the evolution of the music industry.
OH: I think because it’s all about like change and how we’re becoming more like open minded about different type of music. We’re like exploring new genres. So I feel that artists as well are going through this change. So as they are like adapting, we are also adapting.
Whereas the shift was a welcomed one for many - Entertainment Weekly called it a dreamy return to pop - the genre and so-called over-production was too much for others. Nostalgic for Swift’s slower, folksy evermore and folklore, the Daily Beast called her latest album “shockingly dull.”
However, if you are in fact a fan of Midnights, the thrill of a new album isn’t over yet. Tune into the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon for an interview with Taylor Swift tonight, and, if you’re ready for a second late night, get ready for another music video release tomorrow at midnight eastern. For Annenberg Media, I’m Meredith McCabe.