Taylor Swift drops new album Midnights – with one big surprise – and the verdict is in
Taylor Swift has released Midnights, her 10th album. (Getty/Taylor Swift)
Taylor Swift has unleashed her 10th studio album, Midnights, and fans are losing it.
The release follows weeks of teasers, fan theories and freak outs, and sees Swift take us on a journey of 13 midnights in her life.
In classic Swift style, the release came with a surprise – the Midnights (3am edition), with seven bonus songs. Yes. Seven. Whole. Songs.
Alongside the music, Swifties also have several music videos to look forward to, with “Anti-Hero” coming out this afternoon.
Having briefly crashed Spotify as the album dropped, Swifties have devoured this new album in all its glory.
As described by one fan: “This album is midnights, sparkly club dresses, deep chats in the bathroom and kissing a boy on the dance floor.”
At its core, the album reflects those deepest fears that come alive at midnight when it’s just you and your thoughts left to spiral.
From upbeat pop to yearning melancholy, Swift’s mastery of songwriting shines as we delve into all things revenge, anguish and self-loathing.
Critics agree that Taylor Swift’s new album is a triumph, with Rolling Stone writing: “Midnights leaves more and more to be uncovered beneath the purple-blue synth fog on the surface. And maybe that’s part of her scheme to begin with.”
LA Times said: “The songwriting and the vocal performances here are so strong — she’s playing with cadence and emphasising the grain of her voice like never before — that eventually you stop caring what’s drawn directly from Swift’s real life and what’s not.”
Perhaps the only disappointment of the album is the decided lack of Lana Del Rey on the much hyped collab “Snow on the Beach”. The singer contributes background vocals, upsetting fans who expected a full duet.
In any case – the lyrics have fans in a chokehold and the melodies had them crying alone at midnight, so mission accomplished.
As one fan tried to describe: “It feels like 1989 x Reputation x Lover had a child who moved out of their small town and flew to the big city and made all the worst choices but ended up being the wise, unapologetic, ‘I’m that bitch’ woman that she is.'”
Another fan simply added: “Midnights is everything, I love this album so much, I have no words. Taylor making history once again, so iconic.”
And of course there can’t be a Taylor Swift release without fans being sent off on a deep dive trying to figure out the hidden meanings and secrets woven into the 20 song tapestry.
From trying to figure out what happened to Taylor Swift on 29 April to being certain that the 19th track “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” is about her ex-boyfriend, John Mayer, there is more than enough for fans to be getting their teeth into.
So while fans wait with bated breath for devastating music videos and the epic Taylor Swift tour, sit back, relax and get lost in Midnights.
