On Oct. 21, Taylor Swift dropped her new studio album: “Midnights.” The album was written on the premise of 13 sleepless nights she has experienced. Swift’s stories tell tales of self-loathing, revenge and love. Her newer music before this record found a home in the indie-folk genre, while “Midnights” is her return to pop. The album sounds much different than her previous pieces of work while still intricately lacing in concepts and sounds found throughout her discography.
“Midnights” is a very personal album. Swift has kept her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn very private, but songs like “Mastermind” give her fans an insight on their love story. This album is for those who are trapped by their past and get flashed with old faces as they close their eyes to sleep. Swift perfectly captures the feeling of anxiety-ridden nights where you just cannot seem to fall asleep, either replaying memories that cannot stop haunting you or pondering your future and what it will become.
This album is much different than that of her previous work. Swift has written pop music since her hit album “1989” but had never tapped into this specific hip-hop sound. For years Swift has said that as a female artist, she feels the need to reinvent herself with each album in order to avoid becoming irrelevant. It iss very impressive that over the course of her 15-year career she has produced a wide range of albums, each with a distinct sound. She had made each album easy to differentiate not only from other artists but also from her previous work.
Her new body of work has something for everyone, no matter what you are looking for. Swift caters to her fans who prefer her tearjerking songs with the track “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” in which Swift confesses “I hosted parties and starved my body like I’d be saved by the perfect kiss.” In “Karma,” Swift wrote to those who dream of watching their enemies crumble, “Karma’s a relaxing thought, aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?”
Once again, Taylor Swift has written an album that is nearly impossible to critique. Her range and songwriting are admirable and one that future artists will take inspiration from for years to come. “Midnights” is easily one of Swift’s best albums and a body of work that deserve praise and streams.
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