Review: “Midnights” by Taylor Swift

By Jasey Green

Taylor Swift’s newest album is a fun, easy listen, but lacks real depth. “Midnights” ultimately trades the potential for raw emotion and artistic personality to shine through for mass-marketability.

“Midnights” had the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in an impressive chokehold the week of October 21st, occupying - not just a few - but all of the top 10 spots. “Anti-Hero,” the third track on the album and number one in the Hot 100, features a chorus that’s currently trending on social media. In accordance with the viral trend, participants share their “anti-heroic traits'' (as described by Swift) while “Anti-Hero” plays in the background. 

The portrait that Swift paints of herself in “Midnights” is ostensibly personal, but could be assumed by almost anyone listening. Swift revealed in a short video that “Anti-Hero” was intended to be an honest look into her psyche. In actuality, “Midnights” feels like a vessel for listener self-insertion after the style of Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight saga. 

Themes like “covert narcissism,” imposter syndrome, revenge, and feelings of abandonment dominate the feel of the album. These themes would potentially be interesting in the context of Swift’s unique societal and cultural position right now, but she doesn’t delve fully into her own experiences in gritty, real detail. Instead, Swift draws back and deals in relatable, general turns of phrase and hypotheticals. This lack of commitment to actual honesty results in an album that is largely forgettable for those with any kind of diverse background in music.

Of the 13 songs in “Midnights,” “Vigilante S—” (the eighth track on the studio album) manages to stand out. This is accomplished with the use of a comparatively minimalistic style that doesn't feature the backing synth patterns found in most of “Midnights.” The main focus is Swift’s voice and lyrics. Swift also claims sole credit for “Vigilante S—,” the only song in the album having this distinction.

The song follows a woman that punishes an ex-lover, exposing his misdeeds to a woman that made the mistake of marrying him. It attempts to be edgy - almost in the style of Billie Eilish. “Vigilante S—” mimics the darker, moody vibe heard in pop songs like Eilish’s “Bury a Friend”, but ends up striking an awkward balance between clean marketability and darkness. It lacks the visceral lyricism and tonal bite of Eilish, but isn’t quite light enough to appeal to the other end of the spectrum. “Midnights” as a whole doesn’t need to follow a venomous motif; if Swift had committed fully to the theme of revenge and driving anger in “Vigilante S—,” it would have been more of a memorable listening experience.

None of the songs in “Midnights” are offensive, and by extension most are forgettable. They don’t inspire self-reflection in the listener, and most don’t raise any questions (although some listeners might wonder what the phrase “sexy baby” entails, or what it truly means for karma to be a cat). If Swift had put this album out as an unknown artist in the music industry, it’s unlikely that it would have gained the attention that it currently holds. The success of “Midnights” is likely due to the impressive volume of the fanbase that Swift has already accrued. 

Taylor Swift is massively rich, more so than most could realistically hope for themselves. She’s at a point in her career where she could put out an album of her best celebrity impressions (good or not) and still make bank. There’s not really a way for her to accidentally fail. Mass-marketability and relatability may have been essential to Swift’s success as a fledgling pop star, but she’s no longer in that position as an artist. She now has a chance to write about her life in a way that not everyone relates to. If Swift were to write honestly about what it’s like being what she’s referred to as a “geriatric pop star,”that would be an interesting, unique topic. She came close to that kind of honesty with “Anti-Hero.” As it is, she’s writing reiterations of the same experiences as she was 13 years ago. 

“Midnights” is like creamy, processed queso. It serves its purpose and tastes good melted over french fries, but it’s not providing the consumer with real nutrition. At the end of the day, Taylor Swift is a human being, and doesn’t owe anyone anything. If she wants to write another self-insert album that she markets as being personal and self-reflective, then that’s her business, and it’s obviously working out for her. For listeners that prefer to think about their music and want something more than a fun listen, Swift just won’t check all the boxes. And that’s okay.