Taylor Swift reclaims her glittering pop crown with Midnights
Taylor Swift moves away from the experimental magic of folklore and evermore and delivers a giddy, self-reflective crusade with Midnights

While promoting her new album Midnights, Taylor Swift revealed she categorizes her lyrics in three distinct ways: Quill, fountain pen, and glitter gel pen, conjuring the perfect weapon to rousingly convey her words. Her 10th studio album confidently sits between the fountain and glitter gel instruments; it’s extravagantly detailed yet decidedly frothy (a stark contrast with the album’s cover art). Midnights is a giddy, buoyant, somewhat messy return to pop; a heartbreaking confessional gift wrapped with confetti. And the seven bonus tracks, a surprise release from Swift, kick things up a notch.
Swift has moved impressively from country to pop to indie-alternative since her debut, and earned 11 Grammys in the process. Her songwriting and musicianship revel in reinvention, introspection, and passionate storytelling through it all. This profound talent has always been on display, especially in 2020’s folklore and evermore, albums that branched away from her previous records to create a quieter, more poignant symphony. Those albums were critically and publicly acclaimed, so naturally, expectations were high for her follow-up with Midnights.
Swift announced the album weeks in advance, and kicked off rollercoaster social media promotions and a Mad Men retro-glam aesthetic. But there was no indication—despite extensive speculation—of what the album would actually sound like. Would it be an extension of “folkmore,” experimenting with pop-rock? Or another genre? As it turns out, Midnights is an eccentric blend of Lover and 1989, with a dose of Reputation’s retribution for good measure. While still fun and incredibly snappy, Midnights isn’t as much of a cohesive smash due to generic production and arrangements that cause the synth-pop sounds to blur together in the middle.
Swift collaborates with longtime pal and music partner Jack Antonoff for 13 new songs, all inspired by the things that keep her up at night (midnights is a recurring motif in her body of work): self-loathing, dreaming of revenge, wondering “what if,” falling in love and then falling apart. The final result is a fascinating mixed bag of bops—because, let’s face it, that’s what Midnights is. That’s a compliment, not a complaint because Swift is the certified queen of serving up bangers.