Review: Taylor Swift, the mastermind behind “Midnights”

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After only hours past release, Taylor Swift’s tenth studio album “Midnights” already climbed to the top of the iTunes charts and as of the first day, sold 800,00 copies of the album. 500,000 being in the form of vinyl, beating the previous record held by “Harry’s House” which sold 182,000 in one week. Swift also broke Spotify’s record of most streamed album in a single day as well as most streamed artist in a single day.

On Aug. 28, at the Video Music Awards, Swift first announced plans for her new album. Her biggest fans created thousands of speculations on what her new sound would be. Swift took a very different approach in her promo for the album, not releasing any singles or music videos leading up to the Oct. 21 release date. One by one, she posted TikToks unveiling the track list which added to the number 13, a classic Taylor move.

Since Texas is in the central time zone, we got to have our first listen of “Midnights” at 11 p.m. Thursday night. Starting off her album strong with the line, “Meet me at midnight,” Swift opens with an energizing pop tune titled “Lavender Haze,” one of my personal favorites.

My very favorite track though has to be the sixth one. “Midnight Rain” breaks up the album with heavy muffled electronics placed over her singing. Being honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of this song at first, but I quickly became obsessed, making it my most listened to song for the whole month after only two days of release. 

Her eighth track, “Vigilante S**t,” has definitely become a fan favorite. For this track, she channeled her inner Reputation self and tied in a Billie Eilish vibe to create a completely new sound, focusing on not being sad about a relationship ending, but instead getting revenge on it. 

On the night of the release, Swift surprised her fans at 3 a.m. with an additional seven songs to create the complete album, “Midnights (3 a.m. edition)” totaling the album to a length of one hour and nine minutes with 20 songs. I believe the best from the bonus list is “Paris,” a very light and fun song that sounds like it could belong on a grown up version of her 2014 album “1989.”

If I were to categorize the songs, here’s how I would do it: “Lavender Haze,” “Anti- Hero,” “Bejeweled,” “Karma” “Mastermind,” “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” “Paris,” and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” are your typical bubbly Taylor Swift songs for blasting down Southlake Blvd. on a sunny day. “Maroon,” “Snow on The Beach,” “Labyrinth,” “Sweet Nothing,” “The Great War,” “Bigger than the Whole Sky,” and “Dear Reader” are designed for melancholy rainy days of staying inside. Lastly, “Midnight Rain,” “Question…?,” “Vigilante S**t,” “High Infidelity” and “Glitch” are the songs for mind-clearing power walks. 

Through this album, Taylor Swift has proven midnight is, in fact, the best hour for songwriting. Despite the fact “Midnights” was released less than a week ago, it has already shown itself to leave a lasting impression in the music industry and pop culture as a whole.