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- Jan 14, 2024
The highest single-day streams for an album ever. The album that dominated the entire top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. The largest vinyl record sales week in over thirty years. These are just some of the highlighted accolades of Taylor Swift's GRAMMY-nominated tenth studio album, Midnights.
Midnights is written as a concept album of "thirteen sleepless nights," categorized by the themes of wondering what might have been, revenge, self-loathing, falling in love, and falling apart. While this may seem like a vague concept, when coupled with immersive production and illustrative lyrical precision, the concept shines through just enough to hold Midnights together while maintaining uniqueness across its individual tracks.
Stand-out tracks: "Lavender Haze" "Anti-Hero" "Mastermind"
My favorites: "Maroon" "You're on Your Own, Kid" "Midnight Rain"
The album opens with the pounding synth bass and sultry "meet me at midnight" of "Lavender Haze." Lyrically, "Lavender Haze" explores the kind of entrancing love that leads you to block out opinionated critics who may even be asking antiquated questions like when you're "gonna be [a] bride." After taking a break from electro-pop for every album since 2017's reputation, "Lavender Haze" serves as an ear-catching reminder that Taylor is the master of any genre. While "Lavender Haze" may fall into the category of a sleepless night thinking about falling in love, track two "Maroon" is one of those nights spent falling apart. I find "Maroon" to be something of an anti-"Cornelia Street" from 2019's Lover. This is Taylor Swift's captivating storytelling at its very finest; beginning the tale with hazy morning "laughing with my feet in your lap" kind of love and transitioning to "shaking blind and hazy" silence as a relationship untangles into nothingness. The parallels of the choruses beginning with "I chose you" versus "I lost you" and the maroon imagery of scarlet flushed cheeks and rust on telephones makes this track a stand-out (and one of my personal favorites) on the standard edition of Midnights.
While the dramatic and crackly self-loathing of the megahit "Anti-Hero" almost laughs at solitary scrutiny, infamous-Track Five "You're on Your Own, Kid" wanders through years of memories of feelings of solitude, loneliness, and self-discovery in almost a fantasy-like lens. From "writing in my room" to "learn[ing] my dreams aren't rare" to "host[ing] parties and starv[ing] my body" to "[seeing] something they can't take away," this track is vulnerable in a way that Taylor has never really explored previously, and the result is absolutely stunning.
The Act of Midnights depicting "wondering what would have been" leads off with atmospheric "Midnight Rain." It's haunting-yet-confident with a slow-paced beat, distorted vocals, and an open-ended decrescendo. Lyrically, the juxtaposed "he was sunshine/I was midnight rain,""he wanted a bride/I was making my own name," and outro of "he never thinks of me except when I'm on TV" and "I never think of him except on midnights like this" tells the story of two people who found themselves unintentionally drifting apart now living with the consequences of their falling out. "Question...?" samples Taylor's own "Out of the Woods", which adds an epilogue chapter to the story that was started back on 1989. I won't get into the lore on this one, but just know that a certain GRAMMY-winning ex-boyband member may have ended what they both considered a cataclysmic "meteor strike" of a relationship by involving another woman without offering a whole lot of closure.
Solo-written "Vigilante Shit" holds down the category of sleepless nights thinking about revenge all on its own. It has pared-back production but remains effective in being sultry, conniving, and wickedly clever. This one teaches the lesson that if you cross Miss Swift, Tayvoodoo is coming for you because she "doesn't start shit but [she] can tell you how it ends."
Unfortunately, I find the last few tracks on Midnights to be something of a tracklisting mess in terms of creating a"concept album." However, each one stands out definitively on its own with many reaffirming qualities. "Bejeweled" is a brilliant, sparkly pop smash hit with impeccable production and whip-smart lyrics like "did all the extra credit/then got graded on a curve" and "putting someone first only works/when you're in their top five." "Labyrinth" is a soft and captivating ode to falling in love with simple-yet-effective "Uh oh, I'm falling in love/Oh no, I'm falling in love again/Oh, I'm falling in love" but it comes paired with bizarre cat-walking-across-the-keyboard production. "Karma" is cheeky, carefree, and addictive with its chorus of "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?" and perfectly triumphant "Tell me why so many fade, but I'm still here." "Sweet Nothing" is a charming and endearing piano ballad that never quite reaches its full potential.
The standard album closes with "Mastermind," a mesmerizing tale of manipulating fate. From being "cryptic and Machiavellian because [she] care[s]" to the understated genius of planning each calculated move, "Mastermind" on the surface is viewed through the lens of the beginnings of a relationship. However, under the surface, "Mastermind" is a tumultuous look into the carefully strategized mind of an exceptionally smart tour de force we all know as Taylor Swift.
GRAMMY for Album of the Year
Midnights is one of eight nominees for the coveted Album of the Year at the 2024 GRAMMYs. It's Taylor's sixth nomination in the category (she's won a record-setting three times already) and her third album in a row to be nominated. I have conflicting feelings about Midnights taking home this title, mostly because I don't feel like it lives up to the incredibly high precedent set by her three prior wins in the category: 2008's Fearless, 2014's 1989, and 2020's folklore.
In terms of a cultural movement behind an album, no other nominees even come close to Midnights. More hits have come off of Midnights than the other nominated albums combined. The writing across the album is generally rock solid, but the production has hits and misses-- and the sleepless nights concept sadly doesn't weave its way seamlessly across the full project. Ultimately, Taylor's biggest enemy in deciding Midnights' worthiness for Album of the Year is her past self. Personally, I would call Midnights one of the top contenders for Album of the Year, but not an obvious winner.
AM I OBSESSED?
