Grammys Preview: Midnights | Taylor Swift
Meet me at Midnight.. (At The Grammys!)
Ahead of the 2024 Grammy Awards, on slower music release weeks this winter, Pop Lobster will feature some of the most nominated albums for next year’s ceremony hosted by the Recording Academy. To read more about 2024’s Grammys, click here!
August 2022… let’s go back in time. Taylor Swift diabolically told us to “meet her at midnight” on her website after accepting an award at the VMA’s and to let us know she was ready to release her 10th album, Midnights. Fast forward to October. The album had been teased on TikTok with a “Midnight’s Mayhem” reveal of track titles at, you guessed it, midnight.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Before the album was released, we virtually knew nothing about Midnights besides the minimalist, 70’s aesthetic of the cover art. The song titles were confusing “Anti-Hero,” “Mastermind” and “Vigilante Shit”? What in the world was this record going to sound like? Is it a continuation of the Folklore/Evermore sound? Was Taylor giving us a continuation of 1989 Stadium Pop? Is Midnights Reputation 2?
Upon announcing the album, Swift called it a concept album about her nocturnal ruminations and inspired by “stories of sleepless nights scattered throughout her life…a journey through terrors and sweet dreams.” Although a super intriguing concept, it was not very well executed, and although there are substantial cuts and career highlights on this record, this is not a concept album. Swift returns to her diaristic style in new ways; she has fun with her self-loathing of Anti-Hero by linking herself to a performative politician and a Godzilla monster via an excellent music video. She confronts people from her past on Karma, relieved that their actions will catch up with them while also giving us a twist on Karma coming to seek revenge, but for her - Karma is a relaxing thought, and it brings joy in her life. The magic with Karma is that it only works for Taylor Swift. Talking her shit like she has on previous tracks like This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, Mean, or Bad Blood. No other pop star in the world could sing “Karma is a cat, purring in my lap because it loves me” and still make an infectious, addictive pop banger out of it.
Midnights was a pleasant surprise sonically. Her first album was entirely produced with Jack Antonoff, the album really dug into exploring a kind of sound that Taylor hasn’t really explored to this depth before. The standout piece of this album has to be the use of electronic keyboards and synths. Midnights brings some seasoning of 80s into the modern pop world, differently than The Weeknd or other 80s-inspired musicians. Taylor aims to create this kind of neo-synth pop that ends up sounding really smooth. I also am impressed with the drums on this record. It’s really cool to see Taylor experiment with drums again here, that was my favorite part of Evermore/Folklore, and it’s clear they picked up some tricks in those albums that are well-reflected here.
Swift napped 6 nominations for Midnights. Does this album deserve its Grammy Album Of The Year nomination? Yes. Should it win? Probably not. Although held to an incredibly high standard, Midnights is well….mid….in the context of Taylor’s discography. It’s not a career highlight like Fearless, 1989, or Folklore. Even though it was an insane year for Taylor, the Grammy does not belong to Swift this go around. Anti-Hero can take Song of The Year, though. Surprisingly, Taylor has never won this category, and I think this could finally be the year she wins. She was also nominated for best Pop/Duo Group for the Ice Spice assisted remix of Karma. That should also definitely not go to them, but I can unfortunately see it happening pretty easily.
Check out our favorite tracks, listen to the album, and see our scores below:
Can’t Miss: Anti-Hero, Bejeweled, Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve, & Karma
You Can Skip: Vigilante Shit (but not really), Paris, & High Infidelity
BY THE NUMBERS
Bennett’s Score: 6.9
Carson’s Score: 7.2
Album Score: 14.1
Notes from Bennett:
Midnights was the last time I stayed up to listen to an album. It is tough to do that these days for me. She even got me to stay up until 3 am texting my friends about the deluxe version. Over a year later, this album still lives up to its expectations.
Sweet Nothing is the most underrated song on the album, we do not talk about this track enough. I love this piano ballad with the Midnights vibes. Not her greatest bridge but it’s still obviously very good.
I personally put Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve in my Taylor Swift top 5. I love this song. It’s familiar to evermore & folklore but uses the pop formula she is famous for, making it fit this album really well. The bridge on here is insane. The drums are incredible. Overall an excellent track.
You’re Losing Me is another example of creative songwriting and song structure from Taylor, but it doesn’t quite hit all the way for my production-wise - It tries to play with empty space and does so well, just not a vibe I’m into. great bridge though, “I wouldn’t marry me either, a pathological people pleaser” is iconic of her.
Notes from Carson:
This was such an experience to stay up till midnight to listen and then when I woke up the next morning to find up that she dropped a 3AM version with 7 more songs!!?!? Legendary. Taylor Swift album release days should be a national holiday. So fun. So chaotic. The discourse. Was very fun to relisten to the album that defined by fall last year.
Midnights Mayhem was probably the best marketing campaign for an album I’ve seen in a long time. Claps to whoever thought that one up.
Bejeweled is fun but it really does sound straight out of the Wreck It Ralph soundtrack.
I listened to Karma 8x the day the album dropped. Such a major immediate earworm for me.
Labyrinth is one that I liked early on, but grew tired of. The major growers on this are Maroon and You’re On Your Own, Kid.
Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve is absolutely a career highlight in terms of her songwriting. Wow. Just wow. Crazy she left this for the deluxe.
Are you Lobsessed with Pop Lobster? Hit subscribe below or share with a friend!
Here are our all-time top albums featured on Pop Lobster.
Funk Wav Bounces, Vol 1 | Calvin Harris | Score: 16.60
GUTS | Olivia Rodrigo | Score: 16.33
Speak Now | Taylor Swift | Score: 15.68
1989 | Taylor Swift | Score 15.67
Heaven knows | PinkPantheress | Score: 14.85
the record | boygenius | Score: 14.48
Lover | Taylor Swift | Score: 14.42
AUSTIN | Post Malone | Score: 14.41
Sunburn | Dominic Fike | Score: 14.33
Zach Bryan / Zach Bryan | Score: 14.19
Midnights | Taylor Swift | Score 14.09
Endless Summer Vacation | Miley Cyrus | Score: 14.00
Unreal Unearth | Hozier | Score: 14.00
In The End It Always Does | The Japanese House | Score: 13.92
Barbie: The Album | Various Artists | Score: 13.88
Gag Order | Kesha | Score: 13.77
Snow Angel | Reneé Rapp | Score: 13.00
UTOPIA | Travis Scott | Score: 12.79
The Album | Jonas Brothers | Score: 12.67
I Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet | Del Water Gap | Score: 12.58
Bewitched | Laufey | Score: 12.50
THE FIRST TIME | The Kid Laroi | Score: 12.47
Stick Season | Noah Kahan | Score: 12.43
The Show | Niall Horan | Score: 11.42
For All The Dogs | Drake | Score: 11.35
Scarlet | Doja Cat | Score: 11.24