Meet me at Midnight

By Robert Metzger, Staff Writer

It is rare that an artist on the mainstage is able to reinvent themselves and continue to promote new album releases as though it is their debut album. However, this is the case with singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Swift’s tenth studio album titled Midnights, released on Oct. 21. 

Swift described Midnights as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.” 

Through these 13 tracks, Swift takes the listener on an emotional journey discussing topics such as anxiety, insecurities, falling in love, and plotting revenge. The track “Anti-Hero” dives into Swift’s thoughts about feeling like she is constantly the problem in her life. While tracks such as the standout collaboration with artist Lana Del Rey titled “Snow on the Beach,” discusses the concept of falling in love with someone in a magical yet mysterious way. 

Fans of Swift on campus shared their thoughts on the album.

“Midnights blew away my expectations in every way possible,” Junior business administration major Rebecca Margolin said.

Swift did not stop with just the 13 tracks she released at midnight. At 3 a.m. on October 21st, Swift took to her social media to announce that she is surprising her fans with 7 additional tracks that were now out at the time of her post. 

On her Instagram she wrote “Lately I’ve been loving the feeling of sharing more of our creative process with you, like we do with “From The Vault” tracks. So it’s 3am and I’m giving them to you now.” 

The album itself has been received with both critical acclaim, with Metacritic currently sitting at a rating of 87 out of 100, and praise from fans. Swift has already broken multiple records with this album including most vinyl sales of 2022 and is currently pushing for a 1 million sales debut at the end of the first week of tracking. However, most notably the album broke the record for most Spotify streams for an album in a single day at an overwhelming 184.695 million streams according to the platform. 

Listeners of the album highlighted Swift’s work ethic as the key to her success.

“I am not the biggest Taylor Swift fan, however, she constantly gives her fans what they want and that is why she is currently on top. So far, I have enjoyed Midnights. Her work ethic is unmatched and I have to respect her,” junior fashion merchandising major Grace Catanese said. 

The lead single titled “Anti-Hero” describes Swift’s journey through self-pity and insecurity. This is prevalent in the music video that she released in tandem with the album.

In the chorus of the song, she sings “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me.” These lines ring true to the public view of Swift. She has consistently been scrutinized by the media for ruining her reputation and even being branded as a “serial dater.” 

She feels the impact of these words the media has said and it is obvious that they have impacted her life throughout her career. She changed her image from country girl to pop star with her 2014 album 1989, and even disappeared from the public eye for a year before releasing her 2017 album reputation. 

It is now that she is finally getting on the other side of these intense emotions and pain that she has felt, and has now turned them into art that the average listener could find a way to relate to. 

It is for this reason that Swift continues to raise the bar for all of her peers. She is able to grow with her audience, and has grown up with her fans, thus allowing them to have a deep connection, not only with her, but amongst themselves. Midnights is set to break even more records by the end of the week and is available to stream and purchase everywhere.