Taylor Swift – Midnights Review

Intimate folk tracks that relied on powerful vocals and acoustic layering were never going to last. Taylor Swift’s lockdown projects, Folklore and Evermore were fascinating. Lyrical incredulity thrown into the spotlight. Into the studio she goes, something with more range and scope than the other two not because of any alteration to lyrical quality but through an increase in technical merit. Folklore will likely remain the peak of Swift’s art, but Midnights gives it a good run for its money. Tracks that once again reflect on the comings and goings of Swift’s life, but here they are not buoyed by a response to particular events as Reputation and Lover were. Midnights allows Swift to pick her topics for the first time in what feels like a decade.

Opening with the boldly reflective Lavender Haze is as confident a statement as ever. Swift marks her work effectively with the strength of her opening tracks. Reputation still holds the torch, but Midnights is marked with raw anger that flows through with integrity and exceptional technical explorations. Snow On The Beach sees not just a remarkable change of pace for who Swift attempts to appeal but a wonderful collaboration with Lana Del Ray. Her storytelling tactic has changed somewhat. These are not the label “breakup” songs that Swift is so often saddled with but one of encounters and experiences. They are not particularly connected in the sense of story, but mark a life lived thoroughly and interestingly so. That much comes through with intense lyrics and real, meaningful exploration.

You’re On Your Own, Kid is a tremendous display of independence in the face of fear. Midnights is a particularly angry album; it just isn’t heard in Swift’s vocals here. Completely justified changes of pace keep Midnights fresh and inviting but also keen to explore the darker heart of what Folklore uncovered just two years ago. It’s a rallying cry for the self, You’re On Your Own, Kid most of all. Yet the brief distortion that follows up on Midnight Rain and the ghostly undertones that plague the mixing is not a par that particularly demonstrates Swift’s lyrical qualities well enough. Still, Questions… picks up where Midnights’ new energy left off. Sweary, fuelled and emotionally ranged pieces that develop Swift’s talents well.

Deeply moving at the best of times, the observations throughout Midnights are of no particularity, but the details are intense. Maroon has scatterings of tender intimacy and a relatability that flows through even with colloquial mentions of New York and dancing through the streets. Questions… has the inevitabilities of anger in reflection. Scarily good stuff. There are still pop romanticisms synonymous with Swift’s work, but they are refined, to the point, lyrical masterclasses. Technical changes that see Swift enter a new phase of her work, one that will do exceptionally well to leave behind her typecast, mainstream style with a heavier reliance on synthpop intermissions. Relatively lonely, too, as The Car from Arctic Monkeys was, but with a more obvious header and an angrier contemplation of why that loneliness has filtered through.