Taylor Swift – Midnights – Album Review

Straying away from my typical highly opinionated op-ed, or political deep dive, but no less important, Taylor Swift. I have been a pretty die hard Taylor Swift fan since I was very little, and can count many nights of begging my mom to stay up till midnight so I can listen to the new release of Speak Now or 1989. This past week was a big month for Taylor. She released her 10th studio album, Midnights, which quickly climbed the charts. She became the first musician to hold all 10 spots of the Billboard Top 100.  

In my opinion, Taylor gained a lot of fans with the release of Folklore in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic. People heard Taylor was releasing a new album and had nothing better to do, so they listened. Plus, it was a more alternative style to her previous albums, which reached a different audience. This album felt more like pre-Folklore Taylor, so her fans who have been following her since 1989, Speak Now, and Fearless probably felt more of a connection to it, and the ones who recently fell in love with Folklore were probably a little taken back by the pop elements of some of the songs. For me, this album was true Taylor. It had the upbeat feel good music, the breakup songs looking back on her past relationships, and the more complex deeper meaning songs she started to introduce with Folklore. I think it has a perfect mix of everything that makes Taylor so successful. She’s able to spread into just about every genre, and in this album she combined them all. I honestly do not have a song on the album that I don’t like. 

One of my current favorites is Midnight Rain; I think it is catchy and fun, with a good meaning behind it. The song talks about Taylor, or any woman being career driven and confident, and a man who is holding her back, waiting to settle down and live a static life. 

Another current favorite is Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve which is about her gross inappropriate relationship with John Mayer when she was 19. She was basically a child and newly famous in the music industry, while he was a 32 year old very well established and respected musician. It was a gross abuse of his power both in age and career, and it makes perfect sense that the situation kept her up at midnight writing songs like Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve. Taylor really hits it out of the park with the lyrics to this song and has no problem calling Mayer out, which I love. 

Overall, in my opinion this album has no skips, and it is the perfect album to shuffle while you do work as background noise, not too in your face or too subtle. If releasing her 10th studio album was not enough, Taylor also announced that she will go on tour this spring/summer. She is calling the tour The Eras Tour, and the promotion graphics combine pictures of Taylor in all of her eras, from 1989 to Fearless to Reputation. Most Taylor fans have been waiting patiently for her to release information on her new tour, given she has released 4 studio albums and 2 re-recordings since she last toured. The announcement came with a huge wave of excitement and people rushing to figure out how they can get tickets the fastest. When tickets are officially released, there is going to be a mad dash to see who can get the best tickets the fastest. Pre-registration for tickets has been a hot topic, and can be accessed by registering as a fan on Taylor’s website, and then writing what tour locations you would prefer. By doing this they are not guaranteeing you tickets, but if you are lucky your name could get picked to access tickets early. Another insider way to get tickets is if you bank with Capital One. The tour is sponsored by Capital One, so those who use them get pre-access as well. The tour’s sponsorship with Capital One is ironic, because they are not making a stop in DC at all, specifically not at our Capital One Arena. However, everyone I know has decided it is worth the trip to Philly, New York, or LA to see Taylor perform. The demand for tickets has been so high, that quickly after she announced her tour dates, she added 8 more stops to the schedule, because it is projected all of her stops are going to sell out extremely quickly. 

Overall this past month has been a huge month for Taylor, and after months of not hearing much from her, the new album and tour announcement has fans excited. I plan to go to at least one of her shows, and will definitely write a detailed review about how it went!