A photo from Taylor Swift’s “Midnight” album photoshoot. photo by Beth Garrabrant
Taylor Swift’s new album has been racking up listeners since its release.
Since the minute she announced it at the 2022 VMAs, the suspense for Taylor Swift’s newest album has grown rapidly. After accepting an award for her short film on “All Too Well,” Swift took the opportunity to surprise her fans with the anticipation of her latest album Midnights.
Swift’s former albums, such as Lover, Folklore, and Evermore, are so musically diverse that no one was ready for what Midnights was going to bring to the table. Swift has paved the road in 21st century music and has become a major icon in the music industry, so it is no surprise that her loyal fans stayed up until midnight on October 20th to listen to the release of her new album. It is no wonder that Spotify crashed due to the 184.6 million streams the album received in the first 24 hours. TMZ reports that “Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated new album hit a glitch on Spotify Thursday night when the streaming giant literally crashed as her record dropped, causing mass confusion online. The Grammy-award-winning artist released her 10th album, Midnights, right at the stroke of midnight and, not coincidentally, that’s when Spotify went down.”
The album serves as another love story mixed with a revenge plot. Swift talks about her reputation and how she continuously seeks revenge on those who have damaged it. In her album she covers in detail “13 sleepless nights” of hers. The 13 songs describe each of those nights that have everything to do with her love life, personal thoughts, and emotions throughout them.
While Swift always produces exciting music, it seems to be getting repetitive. The songs were reminiscent of her older melodies so it didn’t feel original. While yes, Swift has produced lots of different music throughout her career, it wasn’t anything she hasn’t presented before. I was expecting more from Swift. Nothing stuck out or stayed with me as her music usually does. Swift is definitely a musical genius, especially with her ability to tell stories in between the lines of her chorus and verses. However, it seems nowadays that people are listening to Swift because of her hits in the past rather than for the quality and content of her songs. The following she has built is so large that throughout the years the “Swifties” seem almost as if they are obligated to continue listening to her music. However, Swift did release some great songs in her newest album, my favorites being “Mastermind,” “You’re On Your Own Kid,” and “Anti Hero.” All of these songs include her famous revenge plot mixed with a love story that per usual, just simply hits the spot every time.
After the announcement of her album her fans have been diving into her past and looking for clues as to what this album could truly be about, as well as what future albums could have in store. It is a common theme among “Swifties” to try and find out what is going on inside Swift’s world; it has become a widespread topic throughout social media. The Midnight’s album success is an obvious piece of evidence as to why she is an icon in the music industry. After breaking Spotify the night of her album release, and selling out her tour tickets in mere seconds, Swift once again proved herself to be one of the most influential artists of our time.
