First Published via HUB Magazine when I was Culture Editor.

Date Published: 11th November 2022.

It has been an ongoing joke that Taylor Swift never sleeps as her music references midnight or two am. In typical Swift brilliance, she has turned that motif into an album concept. We join Taylor Swift at Midnight, only to be chaotically surprised with her 3 AM edition album.  

Swift and Jack Antonoff have worked together ever since ‘Out of the Woods’ in the ‘1989’ album. He worked alongside Aaron Dessner to produce Swift’s surprise albums ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’. Antonoff is a force to be reckoned within the producer industry, winning the Producer of the Year Grammy last year. He produces your favourite pop artists including Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and his own band the Bleachers.  

‘Midnights’ can be recognised as a joint collaboration between Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift. This is not to place doubt on Taylor Swift’s ability. She has proven herself time and time again. Ever since she made a change to Republic Records, she has been working with her best friends, including Dylan O’Brien who plays the drums on the album. 

While ‘Evermore’ is my all-time favourite album, ‘Midnights’ comes at a close second. It was a pleasant surprise to see 3 AM edition including Aaron Dessner who produced the majority of ‘Evermore’ and her soundtrack song ‘Carolina’.  

‘Midnights’ also introduces Zoe Kravitz as a writer on Swift’s album, who also works with Jack Antonoff in her band ‘LOLAWOLF’.  ‘Lavender Haze’ is Swift’s magically return to mainstream pop instead of her alternative pop albums of ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’.  

‘Anti-hero’ was the first music video of ‘Midnights’, self-directed by Swift. The video has ‘Alice in Wonderland’ references in the teatime section. Swift has previously referenced ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in her ‘1989’ bonus track ‘Wonderland’. Perhaps used to signify that Swift feels left out of the music industry. Her other personas are split into the girl next door imagery that surrounded her image between her debut album till her ‘1989’ album and the other persona between ‘Reputation’ and ‘Evermore’. All these personas are both Swift and not Swift at the same time. In her ‘Miss Americana’ documentary, she notes that female musicians have to reinvent themselves more than male musicians and find new shiny parts of themselves the public admires. 

‘Anti-hero (feat. Bleachers)’ is the long-awaited collaboration between Antonoff’s band ‘Bleachers’ and Taylor Swift. It is extremely different from most of Swift’s music, however, I kind of love the combination. Vaguely feels like how the Wallows would perform ‘Anti-hero’. Personally, I would choose to listen to this version rather than the original. Unless you are a Jack Antonoff fan you may be unaware of his writing and vocal abilities. Though Antonoff has been with Swift since her album ‘1989’ we have yet to hear his voice in her music till now. 

If you know anything about Swift it is that Track five is always the most painful, soul-crushing, and heart-wrenching song. ‘You’re On Your Own, Kid’ does not disappoint, the bridge is as beautiful as it is hurtful. The line that hurts me deeply is ‘your dreams aren’t rare’, it reflects our childhood innocence and the almost painful nativity in believing that we can do anything we want till we grow up and realise there are too many people who want our dreams. This song has the same climax feel as ‘The Archer’, except it has a relief of climate with the lines ‘you’re on your own kid/ you always have been’.  

‘Bejeweled’ is the second music video from Swift’s ‘Midnights’, once again self-directed. It stars her best friends including the HAIM sisters who have collaborated with Swift on ‘No Body No Crime’ on ‘Evermore’ and ‘Gasoline’. One of the many easter eggs in the music video may be the similarity between Antonoff playing the prince in ‘Bejeweled’ and in the Bleachers ‘Don’t take the money’ music video. This was clearly a hint for the Bleachers collaboration with Swift on her song ‘Anti-hero’. ‘Bejeweled’ takes the Cinderella fairy story applying it to Swift’s life. Notably, this music video takes place after the ‘Willow’ music video. The golden string has transformed into sick, implying she has moved on from the invisible string that led her to the woods with ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’. The music video also stars Oscar winner Laura Dern as the evil stepmother. Zoe Kravitz also appears in a portrait behind the Queen. If ‘Lavender Haze’ and ‘Midnight Rain’ weren’t obvious enough, Swift once again rejects a proposal from a man (seen previously in the two thousand and nineteen ‘ME! Feat Brendon Urie’). 

‘Karma’ shook the Swift community when the title track was announced. Swift is truly a Mastermind. The track title can be seen twice in ‘The Man’ music video which was Swift’s directorial debut. During her promotion for ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ she hinted at leaving easter eggs three years in advance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. 

‘Glitch’ is one of the most satisfying songs on the album. It scratches part of my brain each time I hear it. Swift is known for her beautiful bridges throughout her musical career. However, this song contains the most sensual bridge of the entire album. It has the recognisable beat of Sam Dew, his only other co-written song on this album is ‘Lavender Haze’. Along with Swift and Antonoff, Sam Dew has made his mark on the pop music industry. I would argue both ‘Glitch’ and ‘Lavender Haze’ are the most likely to cause you to break into dance. 

‘Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve’ joins Swift’s collection of religious guilt songs. The painful bridge builds us up for one of Swift’s most rageful verses. It is almost as if you can hear the rage and pain infused in the lyrics and her voice: ‘Living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurts/ Give me back my girlhood/ It was mine first’. This lyric stands out as she extends ‘first’ to cut deeply. It reminds me of her high note in ‘Don’t Blame Me’ during the breakdown ‘using for the rest of my life’. It should be no surprise, co-written by Dessner and Swift, that this makes my top song of ‘Midnights (3 AM Edition)’.  

‘Dear Reader’ shares the same emotion as ‘Long Live’ from ‘Speak Now’. I can already see her on the piano, her last song of the evening on tour and remixing ‘Long Live’ and ‘Dear Reader’ together. Swift presents this song as the public figure of her is not real: ‘If you knew where I was walking/ To a house, not a home, all alone/ Cause nobody’s there’. This is one of Swift’s slowest songs on the album. It is beautifully enchanting and haunting.  

This album is full of pain, misery and angst covered up by pop sounds and beats which happens to be a Swift constant. Between ‘Forever Winter’ from ‘Red (Taylor’s version), almost the entire ‘Lover’ album and ‘Clean’ from the ‘1989’ album, Swift can create beautiful Pop songs with completely devasting lyrics. Swift has proven over and over that she is an incredible lyricist and poet, especially in ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’. I do believe that ‘Midnights’ is one of Swift’s best albums, however, ‘Evermore’ remains my favourite. 

References- 

HAIM and Taylor Swift. Gasoline. Universal Music, 2021. 

Antonoff, Jack and Lorde. Don’t Take The Money. Sony Music, 2017. 

Swift, Taylor. 1989. Big Machine, 2014. 

Swift, Taylor. Carolina. Republic Records, 2022. 

Swift, Taylor. Evermore. Republic Records, 2020. 

Swift, Taylor. Folklore. Republic Records, 2020 

Swift, Taylor. Lover. Republic Records, 2019. 

Swift, Taylor. Midnights (3 AM Edition). Republic Records, 2022. 

Swift, Taylor. Red (Taylor’s Version). Republic Records, 2021. 

Swift, Taylor. Reputation. Big Machine, 2017.

Swift, Taylor. Speak Now. Big Machine, 2010. 

Wilson, Lana. Miss Americana. Tremolo Productions, 2020.