Taylor Swift proved karma was real when she first announced the release of her tenth studio album, Midnights, on August 28 during her VMA acceptance speech for video of the year for “All Too Well: The Short Film. The importance of this is that the VMA’s were the place her and Kanye West began their feuding thirteen years ago. The release date, October 21, is also West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian’s, birthday. Fans were quick to point these facts out and praise her for her clever thinking and pettiness. A few days before release day, Swift announced the “Midnights agenda” for the following week, which included a “special very chaotic surprise” for 3am on release day. Fans speculated that this “chaotic surprise” was going to be a US tour announcement but instead the surprise turned out to be Midnights: 3am Edition, which contained seven extra songs. More events scheduled included the release of two music videos and two talk show appearances. A very popular song from the album is “Anti-hero,” a song some fans say is similar to Folklore’s “This Is Me Trying.” With its upbeat tune and heart wrenching lyrics, this song was destined to be a hit. The music video for “Anti-hero” was released at 8am on October 21, showing the aesthetic of Swift’s album/era. With a primarily blue and purple color palette and whimsical elements reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, the music video was a pleasure to watch and set the mood for the rest of the album. Fans have already discovered some easter eggs that Swift has hidden in the video, such as “Wonderland” and “Speak Now” references which could potentially hint that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) or Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) could be Swift’s next release. In track 7, titled “Question…?,” she sampled her own song, “Out of the Woods’ ‘ at the beginning, yet another possible clue that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) could be her next album. 

Fans have already called Midnights a combination of 1989, Reputation, and Lover. Though these albums are primarily what Midnights sounds like, some tracks even go farther back. The seven 3am tracks were just as good as the original Midnights tracks, with “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” notably echoing Speak Now’s “Dear John.” 

A long awaited song was “Snow on the Beach” ft. Lana Del Rey. Many people were excited for this one, bringing two very large fan bases together in anticipation. While the song was still good, fans couldn’t help but be disappointed that Del Rey didn’t get her own verse but rather she just vocalized with Swift. Though Del Rey didn’t have a verse, her voice and Swift’s combined in “Snow on the Beach ” to beautifully harmonize as one. Hopefully, they will have another collaboration where they utilize their singer-songwriter talents more equally. 

Overall, Taylor Swift’s Midnights proved to be yet another success from one of the most-listened to artists in the world. Midnights truly shows how far Swift has come in her career and her songwriting style change demonstrates how grown and taken something away from everything she has gone through. And Swift doesn’t appear to be done anytime soon. She still has yet to release her four impending re-recordings and this week she will release another music video for Midnights. She will also appear on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday, October 24th, and The Graham Norton Show on Friday, October 28th, so stay tuned for those events.