Taylor Swift’s Midnights: What we know so far

Just a little less than a month ago, Taylor Swift took to Twitter to let her fans know that her tenth studio album, Midnights, would be arriving in only five weeks on Oct. 21, 2022. As some Swift fans have noted, 21 reversed is 12, a nod to the themes around time that Swift is aiming for in her newest era.

Officially, the announcement for Midnights came during Swift’s acceptance speech for ‘Best Music Video Award’ at the VMAs. Swift’s short film for “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” not only won the award for 2021, but also broke the world record for longest song to ever top the Billboard 100, making this the perfect moment for Swift to capitalize on her success by keeping the momentum going. She later captioned her announcement for Midnights on Instagram, saying, “Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21. Meet me at midnight.”

Midnights will indeed contain thirteen songs, despite the prominence of the number 12. Swift fans, however, will recognize that thirteen is Swift’s favorite number. Numerology often works its way into the releases of her albums—for example, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) came out on Apr. 9, 2021. Four (for April) plus nine equals 13.

While we know very little about the actual songs that will appear on Midnights, we do know that Swift has a very personal connection to them. As well as being personal stories of Swift’s, as she wrote in her Instagram caption, Swift went on to note that, “This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams.” This seems to point to the fact that this may be another self-written album à la Speak Now, or it could be recalling the same aesthetic that folklore and evermore captured as an indie-pop mix that seems to be Swift’s newer style. Unlike folklore and evermore, however, Swift has made it clear that this album contains true, personal stories rather than the fiction-centric space the other albums filled.

Whether you hope Midnights will take on the same slower, indie grooves of the last two albums or call back to Swift’s earlier days, or even for those who hope this will propel Swift into another genre to capture and dominate, Oct. 21 is a date to mark. Meet us at midnight.