Waited “Midnights” for this

Over the last few years, Taylor Swift has been taking her past music and revamping it due to now legally owning her music for the first time in her career. Her new album, Midnights, changes the pace by bringing forth unique and personal music to her audience. 

The album ranges 13 songs, but the 3 a.m. Edition extends the track list, adding seven more songs, totaling in 20 tracks. Swift continually surprises her fans, and the 3 a.m. Edition just added to the records she broke with the release of her new album. 

Compared to her previous movie inspired albums, each track in Midnights tells a personal story, which hits on a different note for listeners. These stories were made with multiple listenings of songs in mind to catch every detail. 

The most prominent of these was the track Swift labeled the title song, “Anti-Hero.” This song is a drawn out journey recounting all the insecurities Swift had. She said it was a “guided tour throughout all the things I tend to hate about myself,” which sets the tone for this album perfectly. 

With the title song, “Anti-Hero” came a music video released immediately after the album which sets the mood for Midnights and truly showcases Swift’s flair for displaying her songs on screen.

Swift also worked with artists like Lana Del Ray, singing “Snow on the Beach,” which highlights a light-hearted side to Swift’s prominently deep and dark album. She also worked with actor Zoe Kravitz to write tracks like the opener, “Lavender Haze,” and “Karma”. 

Each song relates to a larger story which is connected to the 3 a.m. extension containing the song “Bigger Than the Whole Sky.” This song is speculated to be about a miscarriage Swift may have had, but nothing has been confirmed. What has been confirmed is how much of a tear-jerker this song was, adding to the already heavy weight of Midnights. 

Swift closes the whole album, including the extension, with the song “Dear Reader,” which contains a deep message to Swift’s long-term and short-term audiences. The song is a reminder to her fans to not take her words and lyrics so seriously or as true advice. It also reminds listeners of how human Swift is, no matter how idolized she has become. 

Midnights has received numerous five-star reviews and has broken multiple records like largest amounts of sales in a week since 2017 and top-selling album of 2022. The success of the album can really be attributed to her fans and Swift’s way of being true to herself in her music. 

This album is a milestone in the era of Taylor Swift as well, as it is a shift in music style compared to the refresh of her album Red and the change which came from Folklore and Evermore. The music and effort put into the songs has paid off and this album is a true testament to Swift’s talent for writing and performing her music. 

Midnights is a masterpiece and it sits in a separate placement compared to Folklore or Red. This will be playing on repeat for a long time heading into finals. Compared to her other albums, this receives a 4.75 out of five stars and massive commemoration for the artistry in this album.