Meet Me at Midnight: A review of Taylor Swift’s latest album

Entertainment Reviews February 8, 2023 Admin

BY LONDON DERNIS It’s Thursday and the clock is a minute away from midnight. Suspense fills the air as the second hand on the...

BY LONDON DERNIS

It’s Thursday and the clock is a minute away from midnight. Suspense fills the air as the second hand on the clock ticks and ticks until it completes a full circle. Now it’s Friday, and the anxious wait is over because “Midnights” by Taylor Swift is finally released.

Grammy award winner, singer-songwriter and pop superstar Taylor Swift is back with her tenth studio album “Midnights.” It has been two years since Swift’s release of the “Folklore” and “Evermore” albums, making the excitement surrounding “Midnights” evident in the hearts of all Swifties (Taylor Swift fans).

Swift’s new album came out on October 21 through Republic Records and was co-recorded with the multi-talented Jack Antonoff. Antonoff assisted with the vocals, songwriting, production and instrumentals found in “Midnights.”

Backtracking to the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, Swift announced her new album during her acceptance speech after winning video of the year for “All Too Well: The Short Film.” She surprised the crowd when she said, “I will tell you more at midnight.”

“Midnights” consists of 13 tracks, or as Swift put it in her Twitter post, “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.”

Track one of the pop album is the beautiful “Lavender Haze.” The song has a catchy beat that opens the album in the perfect way. Behind the scenes, actress Zoë Kravtiz co-wrote the song and assisted in all its amazement.

At 8 a.m. on the album’s release day, the music video for “Anti-Hero” (track three) was released. Views quickly hit the millions and the video made its way to “#1 trending” on YouTube. The lyrics could be comedic at times with the chorus of “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me,” but this doesn’t take away from the song’s aim to address self-hatred and encapsulate the feeling of being isolated.

The fourth track on “Midnights” is “Snow On The Beach,” featuring singer Lana Del Rey. Despite fan hope, Del Rey only sang background vocals and did not have her own verse. Regardless, the song was a hit with its soft tone, angelic harmonies and actor Dylan O’Brien on the drums.

A reflection of Swift’s past was apparent through the lyrics in track five, “You’re On Your Own Kid.” The song goes to show Swift’s new lyrical sense of maturity and speaks for the album’s meaning as a whole.

Jumping to track eight, “Vigilante S**t” contrasted “You’re On Your Own Kid,” with the dark theme of revenge. With its cunning lyrics and clever beat, “Vigilante S**t” is reminiscent of singer Billie Eilish in the best way possible. A similar theme is found in “Karma,” (track 11) and in songs from Swift’s 2017 album “Reputation.”

Swift took her fans by surprise with the release of “Midnights (3am Edition).” This accompanying album features seven new tracks. Unfortunately, the tracks seem to blend together and feel unnecessary to the album.

Despite the few flaws it has, “Midnights” broke records for the Billboard Hot 100 when Swift became the first artist to hold all top 10 spots at once. With almost 60 million streams at the No.1 spot, it is obvious that “Anti-Hero” is a fan-favorite.

November 1 brought a day of excitement when Swift announced “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour,” leaving fans eagerly awaiting a live performance of “Midnights.” In the meantime, Swifites are playing all twenty tracks on repeat and are left in awe of Taylor Swift’s musical talent and lyrical genius.

Summary

Taylor Swift released her thirteen-track album “Midnights” with a surprise 3 a.m. edition of seven extra songs. The album brought fans mature vocals with techno beats, soft harmonies and meaningful lyrics that reflected Swift’s past.

Positives