Payje Davis

Senior Editor-In-Chief

A brand new album after two years is exactly what we needed from Taylor Swift. The release of Midnights is Swift’s tenth studio album following her last album in December 2020 with the release of Evermore.

Midnights broke two Spotify records in a singular day following its release. Breaking the record for the most streamed album in a single day, with an astounding number of 185 million streams globally. Knocking the previous holder of this title, Bad Bunny out of the spot by just 2 million streams. Swift also became the most streamed artist in just a single day. 

Swift is also the first person to have ever occupied all 10 spots in the top 10 of the billboard hot 100. Something no one else has ever managed to do. 

A lot of news outlets, such as Insider, expected the album to be similar to her 8 and 9 studio albums Evermore and Folklore. Which wasn’t the case. This album goes back to her pop roots with her 2014-2019 era of music (1989-Lover). There is the exception of a few songs that give the Folklore/Evermore feel that fans of those albums were longing for. 

Some of my personal favorite tracks come from her unexpected 3am tracks that she announced at 3am the same day as the album release (Oct 21). That encompassed 7 more tracks along with the initial 13 that were released, “Paris”, “The Great War”, and “High Infidelity” are just some of the 3am tracks that I really liked. 

However, my absolute favorite of the seven tracks was track 19, “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve”. A gut-wrenching track talking about a traumatizing relationship Swift got into at a young age that still haunts her. Many times throughout the song she sings “I regret you all the time” in a begging manner. 

Another gut-wrenching lyric featured in the chorus of the song is “And I D**n sure never would’ve danced with the devil, at 19.” This “19” lyric refers to her relationship with John Mayer whom she had with him in 2009 while she was 19 and he was 32. Meaning the pair had a 13-year age gap. Calling him “the devil” because it’s very weird how Mayer was 32 had an interest in a girl that’s over a decade younger than him. 

Overall I think this track is absolutely insane in the best way possible. A track that you would definitely scream to while you’re driving and people look at you like you’re a little insane. This song is also a reference to her song “Dear John” off of her third studio album, Speak Now and the two songs are often called “sister songs” by Swifties. (fanbase name for Taylor Swift fans)

My absolute favorite song out of the 20 songs is track 2, “Maroon”. It eludes to the iconic title track of her fourth studio album Red. Which also happens to be track 2. Coincidence? I think not, with Swift, nothing is a coincidence, she is very intentional about everything she does. 

Another thing about “Maroon”, the color itself is a darker shade of red. Making it almost seem like a more “grown-up” version of the color, which Swift is trying to portray between the two songs. This lyric from “Red”, “Causing loving him was Red” and this lyric from Maroon, “The lips I used to call home so scarlet it was, Maroon” are parallels to one another. Which, Swift is quietly telling the listeners that “Maroon” is a more grown-up version of “Red.” Personally, I think is so cool.

I knew this song was going to be my favorite from the initial announcement of the song during her “Midnights Mayhem With Me” series on TikTok before the album’s release. Just the name of the song sounded intriguing and like it was going to be good, and it in fact is, and lived up to all my hopes and expectations. 

Out of 10, I would rank the album a solid 9 out of 10. The album had set very high expectations. Which in my personal opinion, were met, I think they were even exceeded. There are obviously things that could’ve been done differently that would make the album a 10/10, however, I think what Swift put into the sound and production of this album was still insane and so good. 

The main thing I look for in Taylor Swift albums though is if it’s a “no skip album.” Can I listen to every song on the album and enjoy it or do I find the need to skip it when a specific song comes on? Considering the album has been out for a while, I can confidently say in the case of Midnights. It is a no-skip album.