This Cincinnati native co-produced 4 of Taylor Swift's surprise 'Midnights' songs
Taylor Swift and a Cincinnati artist reconnected for her latest project.
After releasing her 10th studio album "Midnights" overnight on Friday, Swift surprised fans with its extended version, "Midnights (3 a.m. Edition)." The effort includes seven bonus songs, three of which were co-produced by The National's Aaron Dessner, a Cincinnati native and previous Swift collaborator.
Dessner is credited as a co-producer and co-writer on "Would've, Could've, Should've," "High Infidelity" and "The Great War," according to Genius. He also worked on "Hits Different," a track on the Target exclusive version of the album.
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Swift had teased a "special, very chaotic surprise" leading up to the release of "Midnights," which ended up being the extended version.
"Surprise! I think of 'Midnights' as a complete concept album, with those 13 songs forming a full picture of the intensities of that mystifying, mad hour,” she wrote on Instagram. “However! There were other songs we wrote on our journey to find that magic 13.”
“I’m calling them ‘3 a.m. tracks,'" the post continued. "Lately I’ve been loving the feeling of sharing more of our creative process with you, like we do with From The Vault tracks. So it’s 3 a.m. and I’m giving them to you now."
Dessner also announced his involvement on social media, congratulating Swift and her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff.
"I love this album and all of the extra songs (some of my favorites we have ever made) and it's an honor as always to be able to contribute and collaborate with Taylor who never ceases to amaze and delight with whatever pen she's writing with," he wrote on Instagram.
??????????????congrats @taylorswift13 @jackantonoff and all who contributed to the brilliant main album and ??????to the chaotic 3am deluxe shift also.....incredibly honored as always to help make songs with you. https://t.co/5JFHEamWMx
— Aaron Dessner (@aaron_dessner) October 21, 2022
Dessner, a multi-instrumentalist and founding member of The National, previously collaborated with Swift on her albums "Folklore," "Evermore," "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" and "Red (Taylor's Version)." He won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2021 for "Folklore."
Dessner and Big Red Machine also released a song called "The Ghost of Cincinnati" last year, which references several streets, neighborhoods, celebrities and landmarks throughout the Queen City.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Taylor Swift's 'Midnights' has songs co-produced by Cincinnati native
