In the previous article of the Musixmatch Staff Mixtape, my colleague Tim wrote about one of his favorite albums ever, while this time I wanted instead to focus on a way more recent release that polarized the music scene.
I am of course referring to Midnights by Taylor Swift, released on October 21, 2022, via Republic Records.
As an old-time Swiftie, it felt very natural to write about the album that I’ve been obsessed with since its release.
This heterogeneous group of synth-pop songs is very haunting in many different ways, and even if I don't know yet which spot will have in my personal chart of Taylor Swift’s albums, I for sure already felt struck by these songs in several ways.
Let’s skip over the dreamy Lana Del Rey feature, or midnights will genuinely become afternoons. I am one of those who has guiltily nodded hearing "Hi, I'm the problem it's me" in "Anti-Hero" and felt the unapologetic awkwardness of both “Bejeweled” and “Karma” almost cathartic, if not simply fun and empowering.
I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser
Midnights become my afternoons
"Question..?" sounds like the saucy reboot of her older classic "Enchanted" (hyped enough for the imminent re-release?) and “Midnight rain” portraits how those love stories perfectly shaped by fate at the worst possible moment, silently come to a grey ending - "He never thinks of me, except when I'm on TV, and I never think of him, except on midnights like this".
The extended version of the album presents some high pitches of melancholy and wisdom with the beautiful “Bigger than the whole sky” and “Dear reader”.
This is what happens in Taylor’s head at midnight, and I can easily say by experience it’s what happens to a lot of daydreamers and nocturnal animals. And you? In which category are you standing? The ones who sleep tight or the hopeless insomniacs?
Check out the album page on Musixmatch
