At midnight on Oct. 21, fans  worldwide anticipated the release of Taylor Swift’s tenth studio album, “Midnights.”  The initial album included 13 songs.  Later, “Midnight’s 3 AM version” was released with an additional seven songs.  

The album is themed around the intrusive and personal thoughts that keeps one awake at night.  Swift successfully translated the feelings of the internal struggle of figuring yourself out into 20 brilliantly composed and lyrically beautiful songs.  

According to the New York Times, the singer-songwriter’s tenth studio album returns to the pop sound she left in 2019, and explores a familiar subject: how she is perceived and how she perceives herself.

The producer of this album is Jack Antonoff, American singer and record producer.  All songs were written by Swift.  

This album fits well with her other music.  The songs are ethereal and whimsical, similar to “Evermore” and “Folklore,” but with a more dreamlike tone.  

One song that fit this was “Lavender Haze.”  The vocals in this song really contribute to the overall dreamy feel.  Her breathy notes while singing the chorus combined with the upbeat tempo make this one of the best songs. 

One song that felt disappointing was “Snow On the Beach.”  It features  Lana Del Rey, and portrays how feelings of falling in love with someone is strange but beautiful at the same time.  It seemed like a missed opportunity, since Lana Del Rey only sings  in the background, leaving the song feeling like it’s  missing something.  

According to an interview from Insider, “Snow on the Beach” is pretty, but it drags — especially when you’re expecting a verse from Lana Del Rey that never comes.”

The songs in this album that felt like clear standouts were “Karma,” which is  a jaunty synthpop track filled with Swift’s dreams of payback for people who undermined and stole from her in the music industry. “Bejeweled” is a glimmering, upbeat tune about Swift finding confidence in herself when it seemed to have been taken away by an ex-love. 

One song that felt lackluster compared to the others was “Labyrinth,” which has repetitive lyrics and fairly simple production. As a result, it failed to capture the attention of some listeners.

According to Insider, if you’re going to cloud your vocals for four minutes and seven seconds, you’ll inevitably run into listeners who will label the song “Labyrinth” as boring and move on after one listen.

“Midnights” has had one of the biggest release weeks in the history of music. This success was well deserved, as the album was a fantastic addition to Swift’s ever-growing discography. Overall, “Midnights” gets 4 out of 5 stars. If you enjoy pop songs with deep, emotional meanings behind them, this album is definitely worth your time and attention.