Okay, okay, listen. I used to be a hater. Major hater. 10-year-old Akemi would gulp and sweat at any name drop or line reference to miss swift. Internalized misogyny? Most likely. While all my friends enjoyed T-swizzles encapsulation of teen love and being a chronic pick-me shamelessly out in the open, I would wait until late at night on my I-pod shuffle, dug my headphones deep into my earholes to make sure there was NO CHANCE that the poppy twang of You Belong With Me could possibly escape into the darkness down to the lower bunk where my older sister slept. I imagined complex scenarios with my elementary school crush where I wore sneakers and was on the bleachers. It took a while for me to come out as an uncloseted swiftie. Summer 2020 folklore comes out and I shit my pants and jumped into full acceptance of loving sad fem artists. I still wear my folklore cardigan on a semi-regular basis; please don’t judge me, it’s very comfortable. I almost hid in the shame cupboard again my freshman year when I played an old friend a Tay Tay song prefacing it with saying that it was my favorite song at the moment, and two seconds into the first line they legit snickered. I almost cried. I will never take the aux again. Stay strong people. Don’t let randos shame your music taste. So, as I review this album, I know I am biased (as we all are) and that I typically have different opinions than most of the Tay Tay following.
Midnights achieves an energy that seems to combine multiple sounds from her old discography into one, leaning more towards the energy of Red. My immediate notice was the production similarities of Lorde’s 2017 Melodrama, thanks to the pop genius Jack Antonoff (former FUN drummer and lead guitar/vocals for Bleachers), producer and co-writer of many of Taylor’s albums and the before mentioned Melodrama. I spent a while considering just how to approach this review and have decided to list the track list from worst to best in my very humble opinion.
Vigilante Shit – sorry, but this song gets last place. There was a song very similar to this one on folklore “Mad Woman” that borders on this edge for me, it’s so coochie slay it makes me kind of recoil. I feel like I can’t girl-boss to this comfortably. Is it too much? Maybe? But I respect people who like it. A respectful please don’t hate me 2/10
Mastermind – Ok. Again, this song gives me the ick. I’m sorry. I’m going to be apologizing a lot. Yes, it’s catchy but it is so far from her best work. I couldn’t help but giggle a little bit at the twist ending. The bridge allllmost made up for how mid it generally is but, nah. It’s the song writing for me. 3/10
Snow on the Beach – I was there when Apple Music leaked that this track was on the list AND THE ONLY FEATURE IN THE WHOLE ALBUM. I love me some Ms. Lana Del Rey, I was stoked. I sat to listen to this one, opened me little ears. First listen through, I feel insane. I had to clean my ears to hear Ms. Lana. It sounds like she’s across an empty theater from Tay Tay while she’s recording, whisper-singing the chorus. The song feels kind of empty and lifeless, or lacking content. I have a theory that Lana did have a verse or bridge that possibly got tossed. I’m unhappy about it, it’s pretty but there’s not much personality to it. 4/10
Question…? – there’s a theory this song is about Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber. If that’s true, that makes it more interesting. This song gives a lighter energy than the rest. It is giving angry-best-friend -goes-after-your-ex. I had a hard time placing everything this song on, because it’s all pretty good from here. I wouldn’t even say this one is bad in any form. Again, the production value is just not my favorite. The drums feel very prevalent in this track again, kind of taking over any other noises or accents given. 4/10
Bejeweled – “putting someone first only works if you’re in their top five” Owie! This is a bop and aggressive in a good way. The sound design is very interesting, this song sounds like what it’s like to eat rock candy, or to shove a whole packet of pop rocks into your mouth. There’s texture and shining clinking that seems to pop around your head. I’m into it. I’ll give it a solid 7/10
Labyrinth – I love how soft this song is, and the accents of the super blown out techy percussion. This song is as close to folklore as we’re gonna get. The further I get into the album the more the drums are driving me insane. 5/10
You’re On Your Own Kid – have you ever been bamboozled by someone older than you and ended up kinda stranded once they’ve had enough of you? YIKES if you want to feel slightly angry and reminiscent in a sickly-sweet nostalgia, this is the song. Really good. The songs that feel more personal to Taylor are the ones I tend to like the best. 8/10
Lavender Haze – Starts with “meet me at midnight’ which is very cheeky for the first song on the album, love that. I find myself lifting a finger and wagging it around and the urge to spin around and be quirky is strong. It’s perfect as an intro, sets a tone with the slow-paced drum line, and aggressive reverb on Taylor’s harmonies. Nowhere near the best song on the album though. If you’re listening chronologically, it’s essential. A solid 6.7/10
Maroon – The poetry baby! The second song in the album is another color association…? This song is kind of showcasing Taylors strong points with poetic flashbacks through a relationship while supporting the same energy as the beginning track, dark speeding cars + white girl dancing. I do like maroon; it’s currently sitting at my second most played out of the album (not purposefully honestly). But there is a line that drives me up the wall and is going to make me deduct two points because of it. The verse starts at 1:47, the midpoint of the song, she says, “You were standing hollow eyed in the hallway, Carnations you had thought were roses; that’s us” The way she says that’s us makes me so unbelievably crunchy. She thinks we’re too stupid to get a metaphor. Like come on. I KNEW THAT’S WHAT YOU MEANT YOU DONT HAVE TO TELL ME. 7/10
Karma – so this one actually gets me to white girl dance like crazy. KARMA IS MY BOYFRIEND, KARMA IS A GOD, KARMA IS THE BREEZE IN MY HAIR ON THE WEEKEND, KARMA’S A RELAXING THOUGHT – Reminds me of old Taylor swift in the way that you definitely could scream this out in your car. That’s when her music peaks honestly. If I wish anything for the young’uns, it’s that when they are also in their 20’s and feeling generally done with life that they can listen to this stuff and find inner peace through bad music nostalgia. 7.5/10
Anti-Hero – Oh man. I know this one has caused some angyness. I have not watched the music video, so I won’t be speaking on that. As someone with rampant mommy issues and a people pleaser down to my very cells this song was a little too real for me. I dunno about you but some of my worst dreams are scenarios where I’m chained to some post like a naruto training scene, and my loved ones are peacing out right in front of me. (Not dying just like walking away, going to get milk etc.). It’s such a catchy track and executes the borderline cheesiness of Taylor’s writing just enough that I’m still down. 8/10
Midnight Rain – Sometimes you’re just too girl-boss for someone. Listen, the verses of the song are a little mid, but the beat and reverbing bubbly background track just tickles my brain in an indescribable way. And when she gets to that chorus, that shit HITS. The intro as well as all the sections where it switches to a very auto-tuned version of the chorus gets me hyped. When she says pain, I get giddy. 9/10 Blast it.
Sweet nothings – Holy shit. It’s Lover but good! This song legit doesn’t really belong in this album but it’s by far my favorite. You can’t go wrong with piano and simple production. The song writing is simple but not stretching to be something miraculous in every line. ALSO – she wrote it with her partner Joe. That information makes it so much sweeter to listen to. My favorite song by her ever is Peace, and I’ve heard some people say that it’s almost like Joe’s response to her insecurities in that song. ;-; 10/10
Honorable mentions
Glitch (3am Edition) – is the best song to come out of this release. The production and mood of the album fit together seamlessly in this track, achieving what could’ve been the best of the album if it had been included. A lot of the other songs feel clunky, with overly loud backing tracks and aggressive electronic drum lines. But it all works for this. 11/10
Bigger than the whole sky (3AM edition) – Sweet and simple, but ouchie. A breakup with someone you still loved but couldn’t be enough for. You ever been asked if you really loved someone or were just lying to them the whole time? Yea. It’s for you. 10/10
All in all, I will not lie, this was not my favorite album. In fact, the first listen through I was pretty underwhelmed. On my fifteen minutes (eight if I’m super speedy/late to class) commute to the arts annex, I chuck my headphones in and hit play on my liked songs. No curating, I don’t have time to choose. This forced me to listen to the album slowly in chunks for a couple weeks. It grew on me. I let go of the notion that she would make something I liked as much as folklore. She’s experimenting with her sound in every new album she makes, and this sound isn’t something I lean towards in my music listening. Will a non-swiftie like this album? I’m not sure. But that’s ok. Is she a super-rich white person? Yes. Is she problematic? Yes (All rich and famous people are ;)) Are you allowed to enjoy her music? Yes bitch. Overall, I give the album a 7/10. Go listen to folklore you lesbians.
Want me to review your favorite/most hated album? Send your requests to @x.akemi.x (instagram) or cooperpointjournal@gmail.com
