"Midnights" Is Taylor Swift's Best Album. Here's Why.
Facts are facts. Taylor Swift's best album is Midnights. Let me tell you why.
For starters, Midnights is a culmination of all the strengths of Taylor's albums.
Midnights has the confessional, diaristic elements of Debut, Fearless, and Speak Now; it has the storytelling prowess of Folklore and Evermore; it has the sonic multiplicity of Red; it has the synth-laden bops of 1989 and Lover; and it has the no-fucks-given attitude of Reputation. We've got seasons, colors, times, rain, and every other Taylor Swift element, fitting into this masterpiece that is Midnights.
Tayor tackles the overwrought, misogynistic memes-in-Impact-font circa 2010, criticisms that people still love to use against her.
She one-upped the misogynists calling her "calculated" by calling herself a "mastermind" on the track of the same name. And how many times have we seen the "Maybe you're just the problem, Taylor Swift" lame-ass memes? Just like "Blank Space," she turned that critique on its head and made a (pending) No. 1 hit with "Anti-Hero."
Taylor talks about her legacy in an unprecedented way:
Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking verses on Midnights is not a breakup song, but a song about Taylor's own self-reflection and trauma. In the crushing "You're On Your Own, Kid" bridge, Taylor sings, "From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes / I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this / I hosted parties and starved my body / Like I'd be saved by a perfect kiss."
In "Maroon," she sang, "And I wake with your memory over me / That's a real fuckin' legacy to leave." And in "Karma," the 11-time Grammy winner sings, "Ask me why so many fade but I'm still here."
I'm not sure we've witnessed her sing about her own mythology in such contrasted, poignant ways.
There's an impressive level of freshness to the album.
Despite having the quintessential elements of a Taylor Swift release, Midnights doesn't sound stale. It blends Taylor's strengths without giving you the 2.0 version of a previous album.
Taylor explored different corners of the emotional spectrum on this album.
You'd think by now, Taylor would have more than two-fold covered the spectrum of emotions in her releases. But she's tapped into other parts of her psyche, and that seems to be the point of Midnights as a whole. In songs like, "Anti-Hero," Taylor tackles self-loathing. "I'll stare directly in the sun, but never in the mirror," she sings in an almost amicable tone — almost making the listener forget this is a pretty deep self-discovery. Midnights covers self-loathing, revenge, fantasy, justice, and so much more.
She doesn't give a fuck — in the best way:
On "Lavender Haze," Taylor sings, "I've been under scrutiny / You handle it beautifully." One of my favorite parts of Midnights is Taylor's unapologetic rejection of fame, people's expectations, and how it plays into her relationship. "I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say / No deal / The 1950s' shit they want from me."
Taylor broke a lot of her "rules"...
I feel like, as a Swiftie since the Debut era, I've noticed some of Taylor's rules broken. Up until her last few albums, Taylor rarely used swear words, rarely talked about her own success, and rarely crossed the line of being overly risqué. If you were to tell my closeted gay Swiftie ass in 2008 that I'd be singing a badass Taylor song like, "Vigilante Shit," where Taylor talks about someone "doing lines," I would've collapsed.
...while still adhering to her go-tos.
Her Lana Del Rey collab, "Snow On The Beach," and her Willam Bowery co-writes, "Sweet Nothing" and "Labyrinth," are simultaneously giving 2022 sleek, echoey, ethereal production and also B-stage-Red-Tour-just-Taylor-and-her-guitar vibes.
Her pen game is strong as fuck on this album:
No one is topping her lyricism — even on an album that's heavily pop. By now, people should know a Taylor Swift pop album is still going to feature A+ lyrics.
It shouldn't matter, but it does. It's an extremely 2022 album, but still a Taylor Swift album:
Taylor doesn't need to pander to TikTok or YouTube Shorts or any of the emerging media forms of 2022. But this album does — and it's truly impressive. With clever earworm songs like "Bejeweled" and "Question...?" you know the Gen Zers are gonna eat this shit up. It's too good, too catchy, and too smart not to.
And lastly, every song is a bop.
As simple as it sounds, the music is just good. The songs are well written, quintessential Taylor Swift pure genius. After sitting with the album, digesting it, dissecting it, and analyzing it, I've come to the conclusion that — facts are facts — and Taylor Swift's best album is Midnights.
Have you listened to Midnights? Let me know in the comments below!
You can listen to Midnights everywhere, out now.
