When Taylor Swift is brought up in conversation there are a few words associated with her career as of recently; Nashville Songwriters Association International’s Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award, the highly anticipated and critically acclaimed back, to back, to back, to back four albums (Folklore 2020, Evermore 2020, Fearless Taylor’s Version 2021 and Red Taylor’s Version 2021) of the last two years and her prolific ability to still be one of the highest grossing touring and recording artists of the last decade. With all this in mind, where does one go next in their career? How do you evolve past something that seemingly is impossible to surpass? Simple, you go back to the basics. You find yourself making an album of the amalgamation of your previous works. And, for Swift, re-entering the Pop landscape, this was the best way to succeed her past successions.
With her 10th studio album, Midnights, Taylor Swift aims for midnight hour confessions that exude the pitfalls, love-lorn victories and ever-present hauntings of a woman whose soul knows nothing else, but to lay bare. The subtle beat and synth-influenced compositions accompanied with raw, unnerving and even bone-chilling lyricism at times show that Swift’s artistry still knows no bounds. While not as adventurous as past musical landscapes she once crafted, Swift goes for the quietly disarming. It’s in these hushed and lowly moments that Swift shines, impeccably so. The caramelized piano and gentleness of “Sweet Nothing” brings a euphoric feel of divulging to a love late into the early morning hours. The humming beat of “Anti-Hero” is a cunning and cutting introspective reflection of knowing you’re your own worst enemy. There’s a brilliance in the silence and Swift soars past previous expectations because of it.
While some may find the album hitting a little too close to home in terms of sounds of the past, Midnights defines itself as another Pop juggernaut. Though instead of bursting onto the scene like 1989 did, Midnights gently whispers, demanding the whole room to be still as it stirs to be heard. If this is the body of work Swift creates trying to continue her succession of Pop dominance then she has nothing to fear. Pop is safe in her hands.
Stream Midnights now!