Taylor Swift Bejewels Her Turbulent Past With Midnights

Photo Credits: Entertainment Weekly

Andre Leung ‘25

Taylor Swift has prospered despite taking on a dizzying array of identities at once. A singer-songwriter, a media personality, and a deity to many, Swift also loves and worries like everyone else. With the release of her 10th studio album, Midnights, Swift took advantage of her creative prowess to promote its debut. Leading up to the album's release, Swift fed cryptic hints to fans through a TikTok series named “Midnights Mayhem” over a span of two months. Fans obsessed over these clues with wild hypotheses, generating immense fanfare on the internet. As a result, the album has been an unparalleled success for Swift, selling more copies of Midnights in its first week than any of her previous albums. 

After lofting into the clouds with the playful ballads of Lover and traversing into the woods with the indie-folk-leaning duo Folklore and Evermore, Swift continues with her personal storytelling. Revolving around the sleepless nights throughout the artist’s life, Midnights feels much more like an evolution than a revolution. The pop mood of 1989, the powerful bass and synth of Reputation, and the endearing poetry of Lover and Evermore are all there in Midnights: these defining features of Swift’s earlier albums have been amalgamated into a familiar, yet distinctive sound signature. Keeping with the spirit of the late-night, Swift experiments with moodier, more sombre colours. This tint casts a gloomy tone across the entire album, allowing Swift to tie Midnights all back together.

The opening track “Lavender Haze” is the album’s most daring track, referencing the constant media scrutiny during her relationship with Joe Alwyn. This track epitomises how her love triumphs over all opposition, criticism, and expectations that have been troubling her career. Swift reveals a playful side of the album with "Anti-Hero," as Swift depicts herself as an oversized figure stomping a city of gorgeous kids and an overly altruistic politician. She wagers that acknowledging the issue isn't the same as taking action. “Snow on the Beach,” the only collaboration of the album, is exquisitely performed with Lana Del Rey. The flawless blend of Del Rey’s melancholic musicality and Swift’s lyricism depicts a story about young love in its infancy, when one is afraid that it may break with the least touch.

The rest of the album is mostly concerned with the obstacles lovers encounter as their relationship progresses. "Maroon" and "Labyrinth" are Swift’s simple reflections on past love, showing the struggles of wounding up with an incompatible person. In “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” Swift talks about how these devastating pastimes will eventually return in one way or another. Making a complete U-turn, Swift positions herself as the grand prize in “Bejewelled” as she has her lover in her clutches. She praises how much she enjoys watching her enemies receive what they deserve in "Karma," a lullaby of pettiness.

Although Midnight itself lacks the thematic coherence of her previous albums, Swift shines here with the nuanced interconnectedness between the tracks. "Maroon" could be a sample from “Red” or “1989’s” upbeat tracks; tracks such as "Vigilante" and "Karma" fit seamlessly into “Reputation.” These tracks represent time capsules of restless nights—midnights where emotional upheavals dawn upon Taylor Swift.