Taylor Swift has been dropping hints about her upcoming tenth studio album, Midnights, since August. Taylor Swift will release a new album and a music video on the same day, October 21. This will be the first time in her career that she has done both.
The anticipation for Taylor Swift’s tenth studio album, Midnights, has finally been rewarded. Swift has a reputation for her fans’ being conspiratorial and for hiding Easter eggs throughout her albums, but she promised she wouldn’t do either with her new release. Instead, Swift used her knowledge of social media to her advantage by keeping her audience interested with a series of TikTok uploads that were recorded right on the app. Even so, speculation and conspiracy theories from Swifties were the most talked-about topics on the app, introducing even casual followers to the Swiftie mind.
While listeners were split on whether or not Midnights measured up to prior cycles, one thing was unanimous: Swift had the support of every major media outlet, corporation, and brand. This section dissects the Midnights’ era on social media.
Swift’s commitment to her fanbase was on full display throughout the Midnights marketing campaign. She kept her $500 million business running smoothly by interacting with her fans when they spent time online. She also kept their interest up. Swift has always been a master of social media, from the early days when she lurked on Tumblr to the famous Instagram reset she did before Reputation. However, her strategy during the Midnights era has been more expansive.
Taylor Swift has concluded that her followers will be awake all night if she is. Swift gave her fans hints about what the songs on her upcoming 10th album, Midnights, were about a long time before it came out. Swift read unpublished song lyrics from the album at her NYU graduation speech, and she wrote “at midnight” in an Instagram post advertising the music for an Amazon Prime TV show. Swift and her fans love to go on these Easter egg hunts, and the crazy rumors and conspiracies that come out of them sometimes keep people up way past their bedtimes.
On Swift’s tenth try, though, there is no such thrashing. Swift claims the album is about “the 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life,” but she has never sounded more assured. Swift’s fifth studio album, “Midnights,” features a sound that is halfway between her previous four releases. It caps off a period of her career in which she has worked closely with producer Jack Antonoff. Overall, the sound is soft, pleasant, and restrained rather than loud, which makes it a good ending to the four works that came before it. withOne possible tactic is this: With “Midnights,” Swift eases back into pop after dabbling with folk-ier sounds for the past two years.
In contrast to her earlier pop work, Swift has kept the peace she found in “Folklore.” Swift speaks confidently about how her past actions have brought her the life she appreciates on the glittering “Karma,” whose name has previously prompted lost album rumors of Atlantis proportions. She ignores the paparazzi and focuses on the hum of her boyfriend’s cooking on “Sweet Nothings.” Despite the album’s subject matter, Swift appears at ease; she has made her bed, and she is content to rest in it.
This effortlessness is also present in Swift’s writing. Her recent albums that were similar to folk showed a new level of writing skill through in-depth character studies and densely packed lyrics. “Midnights,” on the other hand, is more laid-back and sometimes just drops in. Swift chooses atmosphere over explanation on “Midnights” because she doesn’t feel as much pressure to show how good a writer she is. However, this effortless approach doesn’t always pay off; for example, in “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” “funny” rhymes with “money,” and in “Karma,” “tears” rhyme with “years.” Even while the catchy chorus of lead single “Anti-Hero” is perfect for TikTok, the awkward lyrics of the song’s verses have gone viral.
This sudden shift in lyrical density is enough to give listeners a case of the yips, but it also serves as a subtle hint that Swift may actually be enjoying herself this time around. And as someone who has been diagnosed as a “try-hard,” it’s nice to hear Swift write music that doesn’t require the listener to parse metaphors and plot twists to appreciate its genius.
Swift’s song “Maroon” is mostly monochromatic thoughts over warm synths. It is more of an exploration of themes than a complete story. It’s a more somber and sophisticated take on the original “Red” title track. Metaphors in “Labyrinth” also attempt to describe the hazy, droning atmosphere of the song. “Midnight Rain” has a synth star beam that stands in for rain and carefully chosen images of pageant queens and peppermint candies that are strung together like stars. It also has a catchy, vocally distorted chorus. “Midnights” is at its best when she combines the intricate structure of her jangly pop melodies with a newfound sense of ease.
Swift is less worried and self-conscious than she was in her earlier works, like “Lover” and “Reputation.” However, she doesn’t completely suppress her jittery tendencies. Even so, on “Lavender Haze,” Swift quickly confronts the way others view her in the media. The song’s bridge, a quiet remnant of “Shake It Off,” sounds like a performance of not being upset, which goes against the song’s catchy, throbbing landscape of distorted voices and staccato-style Haim sister delivery. In the music video for her song “Anti-Hero,” she shows how much she enjoys the “Blank Space” strategy of embracing how the media portrays her negatively.
In addition to these recurring characters, “Midnights” also has cameos from others from Swift’s canon. In “Vigilante Shit,” the bad guy from “Reputation” is used again, but with a lighter touch. Swift’s villain image is more charming than menacing, and the resulting song sounds like it belongs in a Billie Eilish musical.
The album’s other tracks fill out the album’s shimmering audio landscape by expanding on its aural and thematic foundations. Swift’s what-ifs in relationships are contemplated with greater conviction in “Question…?buoyant”‘s sing-songy chorus than in previous songs on this topic. Written in the same glitter gel pen as “Gorgeous,” “Bejeweled” is a crystalline confection that cares little about depth. Swift now has two unorthodox Christmas songs under her belt with “Snow on the Beach” and “tTisthe damn season.”
In its 44 minutes, “Midnights” reveals a Swift who is more confident and less concerned with making a point about who she is. Some could describe her as tranquil, which runs counter to the album’s theme. This is when Swift’s cunning comes into play again. Swift put out the “3am Version” of Midnight three hours after the first release. It has seven more songs and is called the “3am Version.” The concept of the album—its tossing and turning—is clear at this point, when the songs that were supposed to be done three hours earlier are thrown out of order by sounds that are much messier and words that are less sure. Any Swiftie worth her salt knows that Swift is most at ease during “Midnights,” and that tens of thousands of her fans torment her during the single digits. What sets “3am” apart from the rest of “Midnights”
At the stroke of midnight after “Midnights” came out, Swift played the cat-and-mouse release games that have become her trademark. This showed how much she likes lying and creating what she calls “pandemonium.” Swift tries to wake up fans who have fallen asleep with the album’s bonus tracks. Taylor Swift always shows that she can think ahead and act sneakily, like in the fake-out song “Mastermind,” whose arpeggiated drips will appeal to ASMR fans.
Fans of the carefully groomed artist noticed something off about her during the Midnights Mayhem releases, and it wasn’t long before they saw the two videos in which she held the Midnights phone upside down while announcing the song names “Anti-Hero” and “Vigilante Shit.” Swifties quickly drew connections to a possible collaboration or music video, among other speculations. The first song on the album, “Anti-Hero,” and the music video that goes with it will be out soon. And the other? “Vigilante Shit” is a good name for what Swifties have been doing to get ready for Midnights: they have been doing vigilante sleuthing. But the teaser for Thursday night football leaves us wondering what the upside-down phone portends. Whether it’s Midnights, 1989, Fearless or even Folklore, Taylor Swift knows how to put out bops. Choose your favorite Taylor Swift song, hop in your getaway car, and drive off to your favorite luxury destination. Check out Slingo.com for ideas for your next getaway car holiday.
