Taylor Swift’s Midnights: Week one impressions
Midnights released last Friday, Oct. 21, doing what Taylor Swift’s albums always do and shattering a number of world records. First, and most predictably, Midnights is now the best-selling album of 2022 in the US with 800,000 pure album sales, half of those being vinyl, and 284 million on-demand streams, all of these being from its first day. Most industry-changing, however, is the fact that Midnights now holds the record for most album streams in a single day on Spotify, garnering seventy million more streams than the previous holder, Drake, with his 155 million streams in a day on Certified Lover Boy. In addition, Swift now holds the record for most-streamed artist in a single day with 228 million streams total on Oct. 21.
Critically, Midnights sits at an 85 on Metacritic, which is above-average for her usual score—Swift’s highest Metacritic score is a 91 on Red (Taylor’s Version), her second highest being 88 on folklore, and Midnights now tied with evermore for third place. Overall, Midnights has the “Universal Acclaim” award from Metacritic, with major magazines like Rolling Stone, The Independent, and The Guardian all giving the album a 100. Perhaps the most surprising review came from The New York Times, its score being a 50, with comment, “Some of the lyrics can be lackluster and bluntly imagistic, with little of the detail that made Swift one of the signature pop songwriters of the 21st century. [...] Midnights by and large feels like a fuzzy Xerox of old accomplishments.”
This perspective seems to be one that many share, as Midnights is garnering a bit more of a conflicting perspective from many long-time fans. Felicity Tiberi, Geneseo Education major and massive Swift-fan, said simply, “Could I have lived without it? Yes, I think I could have lived without this album.” Upon first listen, Tiberi found it, “disappointing to say the least. I’m a folklore [and] evermore girl at heart, and I knew [Midnights] was going to be pop, but I wasn’t sure what kind of pop. It didn’t feel the same as 1989 either, to me at least.”
Later, Tiberi updated by saying, “After letting it brew, I’ve come to like a lot of the songs. ‘Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve’ and ‘Lavender Haze’ primarily.” Summing it up, Tiberi said, “It seems very much like a Lover [or] reputation part two. I don’t know, I think it’s really gonna take time to grow on me… I’m not blown away by it, [but] I’m content. Red (Taylor’s Version) made me crazy—it was such a crazy time. But this seems more casual to me, even if it might not be to others which is totally fine.”
I can vouch for this viewpoint—I was not head-over-heels for Midnights upon my first listen, though I do think that was partially due to my own expectations. Swift fans have been somewhat pampered in the last couple of years with re-releases that stick to what we know—of course we like those albums if we like the originals—so going into Midnights I was expecting a little bit of everything.
My interpretation of Swift’s marketing was that she had written these songs over the course of many years, making me think, just maybe, we would see a little bit of the old Swift in some songs. That didn’t happen, and while it may have disappointed me at first, that didn’t stick. My favorite album by Swift is 1989, and Midnights very closely relates in terms of genre. It is incredibly pop-focused, something that I think Swift excels at. It does take a pretty dramatic turn from what we experienced with folklore and evermore, however, so the whiplash some may have experienced isn’t unjustified.
Some long-time Swift fans, of course, did have that immediate connection to Midnights and it’s amazing to hear their experience listening to it for the first time this last week. For Georgia VanDerwater, a Geneseo English alum, Midnights was “an instant favorite.” When talking about that whiplash between evermore and now, VanDerwater said: “her story-telling or self-described lyricism [...] still grows with this album [and] anyone who says it doesn’t isn’t listening hard enough. Taylor’s life and her creations were different during the pandemic—isn’t that true of all of us? And just like us, she’s getting back to HER normal. [...] As long-time Swifties know, she never stays in one lane for too long!”
Georgia’s favorite song on Midnights is “Maroon,” which “feels so quintessentially Taylor – from the detailed scene-setting to the intimate, raw lyrics to the catchy chorus to a yearning bridge. Sonically, it feels like [...] reputation, but the lyrics and storytelling feel like the old Taylor.”
For Kat Johnson, another Geneseo English alum and indie musician (you can find them on Spotify), Midnights “pulls elements from all of her best albums together into something that feels really mature and special.” Johnson’s favorite song is “You’re on Your Own, Kid.” A title like that immediately drew my attention, and for Kat it was “something super powerful, something that just really resonated with me at the stage of life I’m currently in.”
Carly Burgio, Geneseo Education senior, seemed to be somewhere in the middle: “I wasn’t sure what to expect—I guess maybe something more folklore-esque based on the song titles. I wasn’t disappointed that they were upbeat, though. It was like a more lyrically in-depth 1989. There’s still definitely some whiplash from evermore. It feels weird, like I’m still wondering where 1989 and Speak Now Taylor’s Version are.” Adding to that, Burgio “felt the 3am songs were the strongest. ‘Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve’ is my favorite by far. There are so many layers—it has the lyrical depth of ‘Dear John’ but the musical juxtaposition of it being upbeat is what I love. Sixteen-year-old me could’ve saved a lot of money on therapy if this song was around.” All-in-all, “I’m still trying to navigate the era. It’s very different from the past two years, but [Midnights] still has the lyrical depth and the darker edge, not just aesthetically but lyrically.”
Wherever you fall on the critical spectrum of Taylor Swift’s Midnights, it seems there is at least something for everyone. As always, Swift makes sure her fans are on their toes, forcing us to keep up. Now that Midnights is out, how far are we from the next era? Two years like it used to be? Six months? A week? What’s next? It’s never a dull moment for Swifties.