Taylor Swift just released her new album Midnights, and with it became the first artist in history to take the top ten spots of the Billboard Top 100. She also broke the record for “Most Streamed Album in a Single Day” with 185 Million streams.
Swift announced the release of her new album at this year's VMAs and everyone was shocked to hear it wouldn’t be another one of her famous rerecords of previous albums. After her announcement, Swift took to TikTok to announce the track titles for all 13 songs, calling them “the story of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.” On top of this, Swift released the deluxe version, entitled Midnights (3am Edition), just three hours after the album's initial release. This version of the album includes seven new songs on top of the original 13.
The first music video, Anti-Hero, was released the day after the album came out. Swift explained in an Instagram post that the video is a representation of her intrusive thoughts played out as her alternate self. The song-writer revealed it was one of her favorite songs to write. She went on to say "This song is a real guided tour throughout all the things I tend to hate about myself… I like Anti-Hero a lot because I think it's really honest."
Any and all the veteran Swifties know that the singer loves her easter eggs, so everyone was on the lookout for anything that could be a clue. In Swift's music video for track nine, Bejeweled, she hints at her next rerecord being her third studio album, Speak Now. In the video, Swift enters an elevator with 13 floors to choose from, each button being a different color that corresponds with an album in her discography. She selects the third floor, corresponding with Speak Now, and enters an enchanting world full of glitter and gemstones, again representing her third album.
We know all too well that Midnights is Swift's return to the pop pipeline after trying out the indie-folk realm and working on her rerecords. Take a listen now on Spotify or Apple Music, and if you prefer a physical copy an assortment of CD’s, vinyl’s, and cassette tapes are available on Swift's website.