Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ Is A Disappointment
On Oct. 21, Taylor Swift dropped her 10th studio album, titled “Midnights.” She announced its release at the 2022 VMAs and slowly revealed the track titles in her mini TikTok series, “Midnights Mayhem With Me.” Throughout the lead up to the album, it was given a vintage, 70s aesthetic. Swift released a statement explaining how each song is a story of a sleepless night she had. Quickly, fans theorized that the album would have a serious and sultry sound that fit the premise and aesthetic of it.
Press play. First track is “Lavender Haze,” a romantic song with breathy vocals, but very much poppy. It was an unexpected, upbeat opener, but a decent song.
Next up is “Maroon,” the best song on the album. It has the cute and vivid imagery she is known for as seen in lyrics like “Laughing with my feet in your lap/ Like you were my closest friend.” It sounds like it could be a vault track from “1989.”
From there, the album falls apart because of its lack of cohesion, poor production and juvenile lyrics. Plus, most of the songs are just sung spoken word. She doesn’t showcase her vocal range or abilities.
The subject matter jumps around too rapidly track by track. For instance, right after the heartfelt song “Question…?” which is about a tumultuous relationship it goes into the edgy song, “Vigilante Shit,” all about revenge. There’s no overall arc that makes the project whole. It feels like random songs thrown into a tracklist.
The production includes different, weak beats that are horribly timed and too sparse. On songs like “Snow On The Beach” and “Sweet Nothing,” the production makes them sound like they belong in a Disney soundtrack. The noises opening “Labyrinth” resemble what a car speaker sounds like when the bass is too strong.
On “Midnight Rain” and “Question…?”, there are sections where her voice is distorted and deep which cheapens the endearing messages of these tracks. During the bridge on “Question…?” she drags out the word “tonight” with excruciating autotune. The production choices are questionable.
When examining the lyrics on this album, it’s important to keep in mind that Taylor Swift will be 33 years old this December. The song “Bejeweled'' will most likely be playing in Claire’s stores across the country. It goes “Best believe I’m still bejeweled/ When I walk in the room/ I can still make the whole place… shimmer.” She sings it like she’s a sassy teenager. Later on she says, “Did all the extra credit, then got graded on a curve.” Why is she using a school metaphor when she is almost 33?
Shockingly, “Karma” is the worst song on the record, lyrically. To understand the gravity of it, here is the pre-chorus and chorus: “And I keep my side of the street clean/ You wouldn’t know what I mean/ ‘Cause karma is my boyfriend/ Karma is a god/ Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend/ Karma’s a relaxing thought/ Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?/ Sweet like honey, karma is a cat/ Purring in my lap ‘cause it loves me/ Flexing like a goddamn acrobat/ Me and karma vibe like that.” It’s just a mess.
Then on “Anti-Hero” she says, “Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby.” Her word choice is cringy, but not all the lyrics are lackluster. There are glimpses of the Taylor Swift we love. On the same song she sings, “I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror/ It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.” There are still some poetic moments about serious topics on the album, like here.
On “Midnights,” Swift is back with her advanced vocabulary like on her two previous works, “Folklore” and “Evermore,” using words such as “altruism” and “Machiavellian.” This is the most sophisticated component of the project, but it doesn’t make sense sprinkled in with all the other careless lyrics.
The most out of place tune is “Vigilante Shit,” which should be on “Reputation” instead of this project. It’s so obvious that Swift is not a tough person, which makes her attempt at an edgy song difficult to listen to.
The most disappointing element of the album is the song “Snow On The Beach,” because it features the songwriting trailblazer herself, the wonderful singer Lana Del Rey. Fans were excited to have two notable women singers on the same track together, especially because Swift draws inspiration from Lana Del Rey’s discography.
Press play. Swift begins fluctuating between a high and lower pitch that gets annoying fast and Lana Del Rey’s vocals vaguely remain in the background. Swift had Lana Del Rey on a song and put her in the background where her voice was barely recognized. Not the wisest, sonic move.
Swift also released the 3 a.m. edition of “Midnights” that includes seven more songs. They are pretty good, but there isn’t anything super impressive about them. The song “Glitch” has the worst production on the album edition, because it’s trying to mimic just that–a glitch.
Taylor Swift didn’t deliver on the premise of the album and its overall quality. After listening, the cozy, 70s aesthetic the album was marketed with was completely disregarded. For a singer who is known for her eras, “Midnights” recycles sounds from “1989,” “Lover” and “Reputation,” leaving no room for originality.
I give this record a 4/10. Taylor Swift should stick to re-recording her albums for now. The same night “Midnights” dropped, so did the rapper, Youngboy Never Broke Again’s album, “Ma, I Got a Family.” As Nicki Minaj put it on her feature, “NBA better,” and in this case, she was right.