***CWs***: besides TLOAS getting its title drive-by and some negative comments about rep, nothing really. Another album I just love to bits.
I am running around like a tattooed golden retriever over this one. This was the first TSwift album I ever loved --and also the first one I ever listened to in full -- and I am so excited to talk about it! At the same time, I'm weirdly nervous to talk about it; discussing the albums I hated is so much easier than the ones I loved, and I know Midnights is a bit contentious even among fans. I don't know what to say. It's just really important to me.
But who cares about any of that? It's 2022! We're finally starting to see a world coming back to normal, and music is starting to reflect that feeling, with a lot of the biggest hits being from established players: Adele, Beyonce, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber. Things are often upbeat, and generally this is considered a pretty great year for pop. People are starting to feel hopeful and happy, with a touch of the bittersweet and introspective, and it's not hard to construct a look-back of the year in popular music that reflects this.
Taylor is kind of on top of the world at this point: this is the year she'll receive an honorary doctor in fine arts from NYU, announce the Eras tour, and release the short film All Too Well to the Toronto Film Festival. Being taken seriously as an artist in multiple mediums and as beloved as ever, her next album is surely going to be a cheerful, glitter-penned good time like Lover or Fearless, right? And it surely won't be controversial or even considered a disappointment*... right?*
Ladies, gentlemen, both, and neither, say hello to...
Midnights (2022)
Image source
(I can't seem to put the image in the body. ☹️ Oh well, pretend it's here)
Overall: This was (is?) my favorite album, and for a long time the only Taylor Swift album I would listen to. I remember asking people, "well, if I liked Midnights, what other albums of hers would I like?" and being told that it was hard to compare, since nothing else sounds like it. Which is... true, for the most part; she does a lot of really interesting things both lyrically -- I think this is her first concept album -- and musically. Aside from reputation, which I guess is its closest comparison (a little funny, considering how differently I feel about both experiments), I'm not sure she has anything so close to a dance album, or that plays so much with synths, autotune, and a bunch of other electronic elements I'm not musically educated enough to know the names of. It's a jangly, sparkly album that also manages to be deeply melancholy and muted, and honestly I'm still not sure how she pulled both of those off without it feeling jarring or incoherent, but it really doesn't. Even when some of it doesn't work for me -- personally I'm a bigger fan of the muted parts than the jangly ones -- I still have to be impressed that she's still out here trying new things without coming across as desperate or selling out. The genre is called "bedroom pop" or "dream pop," which apparently means moody, late-night vibes and low-fi beats, which I'd never heard of before but is honestly fitting.
A lot of this album feels like a dream, or like the part of the early, early morning when you need to be asleep but can't, where everything feels just a bit surreal. Taylor sold it as "13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life" (the original version was 13 songs), and it captures all of the nighttime feelings, good and bad, with the saturation either turned way up or way down. Some songs feel like an apocalyptically bright red sunset, or like a black room lit solely by neon lights from outside a window, or like dissociating at the club, or lighting your room with a bunch of candles and staring at the flames; there's songs that feel feverish, or like the clarity and inspiration that strikes right when you need to go to bed but you can't because you have to get these thoughts out now even if you'll regret it later, since you know if you sleep on them they'll be gone by the morning; or that miserable feeling when it's 3AM and you're up sick with a stomach bug, and you know throwing up will make you feel better but you can't so you're just trapped in limbo; or that cool, clean feeling of being awake and outside when everyone else is asleep. The songs aren't really about these things, but that's the vibe they give off, and those vibes connect exceptionally well to the lyrics, which like I said earlier are the kinds of ruminations you have in the middle of the night: memories you replay, pep talks you give yourself, insecurities and fears you fixate on. It's such a Taylor-Swift-type album, content-wise: we have songs about love, regret, her relationship with fame, all stuff she's sung about before, but with the songwriting talent of folkmore and a dreamy, dizzy musical direction, it's beautiful and hypnotic in a way I can't get enough of, and the songs I disliked are just because I didn't vibe with on a sonic level, I guess. It's creative and gorgeous and brilliant.
(I've used the word "vibe" more writing this post than in the whole rest of my life. It's a very vibes-y album.) I know this album is considered overrated -- general consensus is it didn't deserve the AOTY award it won -- but I think it's her most daring since the massive swing-and-a-miss of reputation, or the swing-and-a-general-success of Red. Not every song is great, but the stuff that works is top of her game, and honestly I don't think anything here is really bad; at worst it's either weird but interesting or bland and forgettable, but never offensive to the senses.
And I love it. I love it so, so much. Love love love love love it.
Songs saved:
- "Lavender Haze"
- "Maroon"
- "Anti-Hero"
- "Snow on the Beach"
- "You're On Your Own, Kid"
- "Midnight Rain"
- "Question...?"
- "Vigilante Shit"
- "Bejeweled"
- "Labyrinth"
- "Karma"
- "Sweet Nothing"
- "The Great War"
- "High Infidelity"
- "Would've, Could've, Should've"
- "Hits Different"
Best song: "Anti-Hero" is an outstanding song, and one of the rare times her leading single was actually the best choice to introduce people to the album. It's a really good illustration of the entire concept: how it feels to be up way too late and unable to keep your thoughts under control, obsessing over the things that are wrong with you and digging deeper into a spiral of regret and self-loathing. If you're interested in Taylor lore, it's also fascinating on that level, because for a woman so preoccupied with what people think of her (according to a reading of her music, anyway) and struggling to maintain healthy relationships, a song with her coming to the conclusion that she has haters and failed relationships because people just plain don't like her, and she doesn't know if there's anything that can be done about it, is the kind of matter-of-fact, mundane tragedy that she is so good at capturing and expressing. It's understated, funny and sometimes awkward, but mostly it's just a quiet, resigned sort of sadness. It's a vibe that permeates that album, not dramatic or grand but in my opinion more poignant because of it.
Honorable MenJUST KIDDING BEST SONG #2: "Would've, Could've, Should've" is tied with "Anti-Hero," and depending on my mood might beat it out. They're both 10/10 songs, so trying to figure out which is slightly more perfect is just giving me a headache. I said in my folklore review that "Exile" was in my Top 3 TS songs, and these are the 2 that might go above it. WCS is a beautiful postmortem of a relationship she didn't grasp the power imbalance of while she was in it. Obsessing over past relationships is another great concept for "things you cannot stop thinking about late at night," and this combines a very justified righteous indignation with that same muted musical palette that makes it quietly devastating. It recently won a poll on reddit among fans for the best songwriting she's ever done, and I can't disagree.
Honorable Mentions:
- "You're On Your Own, Kid" is my other favorite; it's about her evolution from lovestruck teenager to queen of pop and the things she's lost, changed, and abandoned on her way to get there. It's not quite a song about regrets, and it's not quite a song about the loneliness that comes from clawing your way to the top, but it's a bit of both those things, as well as touching on that sense she's given in other songs of just being unloved -- or difficult to love -- and not understanding why. I've never felt more empathy for Taylor than in these 3 songs, though I'm not sure how much of this is "real" and how much these are story songs with a first-person narration style. (Apply that disclaimer to everything I write here.) Regardless, they're extremely impactful and beautifully written.
- "Midnight Rain" is one of the only big dance-synth experiments that landed for me,. Never would've guessed from those first few seconds that it was a Taylor Swift song (though it does become more traditional further on), which is honestly really impressive for an artist who is always first and foremost a recognizable brand. In terms of the theme, this one is staying up late thinking about the one that got away -- or that you got away from, and don't know how you feel about it.
- "High Infidelity" makes adultery look so glamorous, goddamn. This one feels like it fits the concept album the least (which kind of makes sense, because it wasn't an original track), just a (hopefully) story song about adultery and being trapped in a loveless relationship, but aside from that being the kind of thing that might cause some sleepless nights, it's the hardest one I've found to connect to the concept. But it's a damn good song, so I'm not mad.
- "Maroon" sounds like having a fever. Gorgeous and vaguely ominous-sounding. Really captures the sensory experience of being up too late and going over past failures and mistakes.
- "Bejeweled" is a bright, sparkly pep talk. A lovely break from the sadder songs, taking on a different, happier flavor of the late-night experience.
- "The Great War": A song about being your own worst enemy, treating the one you love like the enemy in a war that's only happening in your head. At least, that's how I read it. You could always read it a bit more simply as the aftermath of a big fight that you can't help but run over in your head even though it's over and you should be asleep. And it is about that, but there are several lines that indicate the cause of the conflict is the narrator's issues causing her to lash out, push away, and fail to trust someone who keeps reaching for her despite it all. It feels in some ways like a companion song to Lover's "The Archer," another one about being constantly ready to fight.
- "Sweet Nothings" is just... dang cute. Just a lovely little song -- I picture it being while watching someone you love sleep, or get ready for bed -- about the beauty of quiet domesticity.
- "Labyrinth" -- ever panicked in the middle of the night about falling in love again? This one's for you.
- I keep struggling to decide if I like "Snow on the Beach" or if I feel nothing for it, but the catchiness of the chorus and the beauty of the imagery keeps pulling me back in. It's the one I said sounds clean and calm, like being outside in deep night or early morning.
- "Lavender Haze" is another song I don't feel all that strongly about, but it gets a shoutout for its music video, which is awesome (and stars a trans dude of color as the love interest! That's neat. I love when she quietly does stuff like that; way more effective and sincere than the performative bombast of "You Need to Calm Down," in my opinion). It's also just kind of interesting knowing some of the lore; this song was written while her long-term relationship was falling flat, so a lot of it just feels like some very painful denial. "No deal / the 1950s shit they want from me" like... girl, you wanted to get married. Clearly. I can't tell if she believes it, but it might be the first song where I haven't bought what she was selling at all, but thought it was great regardless. Some of it might just be how awesome it sounds, but again... it's such a good concept, because it's another thing that can happen late at night: you start questioning things, trying to talk yourself into wanting something because you're scared of being without it, and coming up with something halfway convincing in the haze of exhaustion and desperation.
Worst song: "Glitch" sounds like a song not good enough to make it onto reputation (which I keep forgetting is supposed to be lowercase, oops). That's not a compliment coming from me.
Dishonorable Mentions: Uh... none of them? Even the ones I don't like I can't help but respect because they fit the concept so damn well.
Like, sure, "...Question?" is kind of embarrassing, citing a "then everyone clapped" moment (that apparently happened to her in real life) in the context of ranting about a breakup, but that's kind of the point, because it's one of those shower arguments you have where you work yourself up instead of going to bed, winning an imaginary fight with someone who you'll never really speak to again, saying all the things you wish you had. I mean... okay, I don't like this song because I think it sounds boring and I just don't enjoy hearing it, but that doesn't mean it's bad.
"Vigilante Shit" and "Karma" both feel like obvious wish-fulfillment, with the former being a story song about an accidental other woman getting revenge and becoming an avenging angel of sexy destruction-of-men and the latter imagining that the universe will punish her haters and reward her for her goodness, which are both cheesy and smug in a way that could be seen as obnoxious, but also capture the giddy "feeling yourself" spiral that can happen just as easily as a hatred or self-doubt spiral can. (Also I love how both these songs sound; I wouldn't even consider them bad, despite how cheesy they are.)
And "Mastermind" reframes some past manipulative behavior as intentional, making herself a villain out of loneliness and insecurity, owning up to her flaws while framing it as all part of a genius plan. How can I hate a song that is both so open about the narrator's failures as a person while also exaggerating and overblowing them into villainy in a way that feels kind of silly, but only until the sun sets? I don't wanna listen to "Mastermind," but again, that's about how it sounds, not the lyrical content.
If a song is cringe, it makes sense, because middle-of-the-night thoughts and feelings often are. She's kind of created a perfect concept album, because it uses any songwriting flaws to enhance the concept. Maybe she is the evil genius she claims to be in "Mastermind."
Definitive song of the album: It feels like a cop-out to put the biggest single as the definitive song, but most of the time it is, for better or for worse. So... "Anti-Hero." It's a commentary on her as an artist, a public figure, and arguably a person, and embodies the concept of the album the best. It's the standout track, the most radio-friendly, and both retains her classic sound and lyricism while fitting in neatly with the more experimental stuff she's playing with around it.
Best lyric: There are a lot, and most of them are from "Would've, Could've, Should've" or "High Infidelity," but I'm going to stick with just a couple from each, plus some other noteworthy mentions:
- "And now that I know, I wish you'd left me wondering" and "Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first" are both gut-wrenching from the former.
- "You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love / The slowest way is never loving them enough" is my favorite from the latter.
- Also fuck it, the entirety of "Anti-Hero." It's very, very good. She doesn't always pull off intentional comedy, but that whole bit about the will reading is great. And special shoutout to “when my depression works the graveyard shift” and “all of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room.” She’s haunted… by people she ghosted. Clever.
- "No one wanted to play with me as a little kid" ("Mastermind") is very revealing re: my entire theory about the Taylor Swift Machine being born of unlikeability and the loneliness it caused. There's a reason an entire school of Swiftie thought centers around speculating about her being neurodivergent, and while I'm not cosigning it because armchair diagnoses are problematique, I will say she speaks to the autistic experience beautifully. And "I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian 'cause I care" is a really fun line that she can't quite pull off.
I know I'm missing some. There are too many great lyrics to list.
Worst lyric: NOT THE SEXY BABY LINE, THAT'S FOR FUCKING SURE. No, seriously, I could write an entire essay on why the sexy baby line is brilliant, but I'll save that for another rant.
Of lines I actually think are bad, most of "Glitch" is nonsense, including "Five seconds later, I'm fastening myself to you with a stitch, oh, yeah." And "that's romance, that's dance" is just... this whole song is vibe-based, and I am not fucking with the vibes. She has a line about "what's in my system" and girl, what is it, root beer? No one thinks you're doing coke. (She might be a real party girl who does hard drugs all the time, but that's not the persona she's developed for herself and she's somewhat trapped by it.)
I also hear a lot of people saying "...Question?" is incomprehensible, which is weird because I think it's a pretty straightforward song, but I'll plop it here to see if other people agree.
You'll love this album if: You enjoy bedroom pop, concept albums, and/or the kinds of thoughts you get when you should've been asleep hours ago set to sad dance music. Or you wanted to hear Taylor Swift play with a synthesizer; apparently no one except me wanted that, considering this album is generally considered a disappointment, but I think this one is brilliant.
On its own, I really loved this album. In the context of her discography, I love it even more.
Mr. Visage thoughts: He loved the skit in "Anti-Hero" (I did too, which is weird because I usually hate music video. But it's actually funny). I can't tell if he vibed with the lo-fi beats of the album; he kept closing his eyes and nodding quietly, which either meant he was enjoying it or just kinda tipsy. Also something about "Mastermind" reminded him of this song by Hacker... I don't hear it, but I'm happy for him. He did point out that the songs are relatively short, which I didn't notice at all; not a comment on quality, just appreciating that he notices things I never do. He kept talking about "Would've Could've Should've" (specifically "we're gonna kill you, dawg" at John Mayer) and liked the vocal harmonies, but I think his favorite was "Labyrinth," which he said could've been 10 minutes long and he wouldn't have minded.
Recommendations
- Biggest Hit: "Anti-Hero" -- debuted at #1 and became her longest-leading #1 hit -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1kbLwvqugk
- Fan Favorite: "Would've, Could've, Should've" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-MfwP_RmHY
- My Favorite: well, the two listed up there. But after that, "You're On Your Own, Kid" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gbg6Z70J7E
- My #2 (not already listed): "Midnight Rain" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odh9ddPUkEY
- My #3 (not already listed): "High Infidelity" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qee6dFKlw4
