Sprinkler Splashes and Fireplaces Ashes: How Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ Glitters With Intimate Hindsight
By Turi Sioson
via YouTube
I remember when TS10 (the Swifties’ nickname for Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album) was just a whisper, a speculative topic on the Taylor Connect forum and under #swiftie Tumblr tags. Hypothesized as a “Greatest Hits” compilation, the imaginary album included unreleased tracks from across the years and commemorative re-recordings; it was some kind of musical retrospective on Swift’s expansive discography. With Midnights, released last month, these theories are proven somewhat true. Declared by Swift to be the “stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout [her] life,” the album is a reflection on memories and emotions she hasn’t shared in song before, as well as a reframing of those she has. Struggles with self-loathing, confessions of childhood hurt, and fresh, raw anger over mistreatment merge with uptempo arrangements to form a collection of songs that were meditative, but also refreshingly delicious, calling Swift’s extensive pop past to mind without being derivative.
Midnights marks the first time Swift and producer Jack Antonoff have been the main masterminds driving a project. Packed with synths, distinct beats and voice effects, Swift’s tenth studio album recalls the pop sensibilities of 1989 and Lover, along with the dark, R&B-adjacent sounds of Reputation, all records that saw Antonoff growing to be a prominent Swift collaborator.
Album opener “Lavender Haze” shares more than a couple breathy, sensual similarities with Lover’s “I Think He Knows,” while the lyrical pacing and deep, steady rhythm of “Maroon” brings to mind Reputation’s “King of My Heart.” However, none of the album’s production parallels are too much. More like a nod at Swift’s discography, there is a richer, more mature air to the songs on Midnights, giving them a distinctive life outside of their sibling tracks on previous albums.
When I listened to the album the whole way through for the first time, I was almost disappointed that it was so pop-heavy, having become fond of Swift’s pandemic sisters, folklore and evermore, and been encouraged by the delicate 1970s aura of the album’s photography. But to declare Midnights a complete departure from these folk-pop experiments is to deny the album a proper chance.
Swift has always made music that is upbeat, pop-leaning and lyrically straightforward — even kitschy at times — and her tenth album is in part a return to this style. But Midnights is gentler, more intimate and velvety, than any of her past work. Lover is most similar, both sonically and lyrically (it’s even theorized that Midnights is its long-lost sister album), but there is a bright, loud quality to the 2019 album that is more in line with the rest of Swift’s pre-pandemic music, than it is with Midnight’s subdued quality. Though lacking the storytelling elements of folklore and evermore, the warm, breathy singing style in Midnights’ catchiest songs, such as “Bejeweled” and “Question…?” announce the sister albums’ influence of her current style.
Tracks like “You're on Your Own, Kid” and “Anti-Hero” echo the raw openness the singer-songwriter has begun to embrace lately. “I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this / I hosted parties and starved my body / Like I'd be saved by a perfect kiss,” she sings on the former.
With clever wordplay and attention to how sonics and lyrics communicate, Swift has a knack for elevating cliché lyrics and otherwise banal sayings. She transforms the vapid into lively, notable songs. In high-energy pop anthem “Karma,” Swift sings:
Karma is my boyfriend
Karma is a god
Karma is the breeze on my hair on the weekend
… Karma is a cat
purring in my lap ’cause it loves me
It’s far from the most profound thing Swift has written, but the production and lyrics are carefully put together; its tight rhythm and lyrical rhymes make the song as ingenious as it is fun.
Wrapping up on a tender note, “Sweet Nothing,” co-written with William Bowery — more commonly known as Joe Alwyn, Swift’s long-time boyfriend — and closer “Mastermind” circle back to the singer-songwriter’s more recent past (or arguably her present), while still referencing the things that have haunted her for years. “No one wanted to play with me as a little kid / So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since,” she sings on the final track. “To make them love me and make it seem effortless / This is the first time I've felt the need to confess.” She reveals where her “cryptic” nature stems from while simultaneously tracking the origin of her relationship with who we can only assume is Alwyn.
In “Sweet Nothing,” endearing moments (“a pebble that we picked up last July”; “You're in the kitchen humming”) are sandwiched between the chorus’ main declaration: “All that you ever wanted from me was / Sweet nothing.” Accompanied by a simple, sparse piano tune, the song is warmly intimate. “On the way home / I wrote a poem / You say, “what a mind” / This happens all the time,” she sings with increasing affection in her voice. As a long-time fan, this is a moment on the album that genuinely makes me happy for Swift. Having witnessed years of public scrutiny and personal heartache of her relationships under the spotlight, to hear both lyrically and sonically that Swift is finally comfortable is an emotional experience.
Though she shared on Instagram that the standard edition is “a complete concept album, with [Midnights’] 13 songs forming a full picture of the intensities of that mystifying, mad hour,” the bonus tracks are arguably some of the best songs, extending the album with similarly intimate confessions and references to Swift’s past that fans are familiar with. Target exclusive “Hits Different” is reminiscent of the transitional era from Fearless to Speak Now, bubbly and energetic while holding steady the maturity of the rest of the album. Midnights (3am Edition) expands the album with seven more songs, of which the dancey, love-struck “Paris,” seething reflection on Swift’s relationship with John Mayer “Would've, Could've, Should've,” and peace-seeking “Great War” shine through. As is characteristic of many of her bonus tracks throughout the years, these additions feel less contained by the standard album’s established focus and are often the more experimental tracks, whether that be through production or lyrics.
Coupled with her recent and upcoming string of album re-recordings — to lessen the value of the original masters, which were sold by Swift’s previous label Big Machine Records to music exec Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings LLC — Midnights creates the perfect bridge between Swift’s musical past and present. Swift’s upcoming “The Eras Tour,” announced at the beginning of the month, will look back on the pop star’s musical career while bringing her most recent album to concert and exploring the very heart of Midnights’ meditation. It is the artist’s first time touring since 2018’s “Reputation Stadium Tour,” and will likely celebrate her reclaimed discography and meld it with her most recent musical projects.
Swift’s tenth album is “for all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching,” she says in the album’s physical booklet. “Hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve … We'll meet ourselves.” Though it may take more than a single listen to get there, Midnights tugs at haunting memories, encouraging us to delve into our pasts hindsight-first. No longer the myth it was in the chat rooms of my adolescence, TS10 finds life in the study of a well-worn past.