On Aug. 28, Taylor Swift took the world by storm with the announcement of her tenth studio album, “Midnights.” Fans waited in great anticipation for the album, staying up until midnight for the album on Oct. 21. Just a couple of hours later, at three am, Swift dropped another seven songs entitled the “3am Tracks” bringing “Midnights” to a total of 20 tracks.

Swift broke a number of records with the release of “Midnights,” including being the most streamed album in 24 hours with 184.6 million streams.
“Midnights” draws inspiration from her nine previous albums, with fans pointing out obvious stylistic similarities between the album and 1989 (2014), Lover (2019), and Reputation (2017). One track, “Question…?”, even samples a song from 1989, “Out of the Woods.”

The album starts out poorly, with “Lavendar Haze.” The song holds nothing original, sounding like a basic pop song you might hear while walking through a department store. The song isn’t awful, it just isn’t anything fans haven’t already heard from Swift. It leaves much to be desired considering its position as the first track on the album. As I continued listening to the album, not a lot of songs stood out to me. The songwriting itself isn’t extraordinary and a lot of the tracks felt repetitive and too similar.

“Anti-Hero,” the third track on the album, quickly became the target of controversy due to its music video. A scene in the video, which has now been deleted, displayed Swift standing on a scale and looking down at it, only for the scale to read the word “FAT” rather than a number. This scene was intended to portray Swift’s experience with an eating disorder. Many fans were outraged, while others felt seen. Eventually, Swift was forced to edit the video and remove the clip.
The fifth track, “You’re On Your Own, Kid” was one of the only standouts on the album for me. It instills a very nostalgic feeling, with the lyrics being relatable to most listeners. The song displays Swift’s songwriting skills, something that most of the album deeply lacks. As the song progresses, Swift’s vocal moments become stronger. This track truly shows off her best assets as an artist.
Another stand out song, from the 3am tracks, is “Bigger Than The Whole Sky.” The song is delicate, with striking lyrics that show off Swift’s writing talents. The track is slightly reminiscent of her most recent album, “Evermore” (2020).
The album closes out with my personal favorite, entitled “Mastermind.” Both her vocal talent and writing talents are displayed in full through this track. The song quickly became popular on TikTok, with a trend forming around the chorus of the song.

I was very disappointed by “Midnights.” The album is nothing new in the grand scheme of Swift’s discography, and leaves much to be desired. The few redeemable tracks on the album, however, live up to the hype of the album and exceeded my expectations. In total, I would give the album 3 stars. If you aren’t necessarily a huge fan of Swift, but still enjoy some of her music, I’d recommend giving this album a listen. The Album’s release came with merch, music videos, and a tour announcement. The tour is entitled “The Eras Tour” and is set to begin in March of 2023.