Taylor Swift: Midnight Music Review - Full of self-loathing and criticism of stereotypes

Background knowledge

Taylor Swift (Taylor Swift), born on December 13, 1989 in Pennsylvania, USA, is an American singer, songwriter, music producer and actress. In 2006, he released his debut music album "Taylor Swift", which was certified by the American Recording Industry Association as 5 times platinum records. In 2008, he released the music album "Fearless", which reached number one for 11 weeks on the US Billboard album chart, certified 7x platinum record sales, and won the 52nd Grammy Awards for Album of the Year. In 2010, he released the music album "Speak Now", and the single "Mean" won 2 Grammy Awards. In the same year, he won the "Hal Big Satellite Light Award" in the Creator's Hall of Fame. In 2011, with the sales of three physical albums, it won the sales certification of "Five Platinum Records" in China. In 2012, he began to transform into a pop singer and released the music album "Red". In 2013, he won the Pinnacle Award of the 47th Country Music Association Awards.

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Taylor Swift: Midnights review – small-hours pop rich with self-loathing and stereotype-smashing

Taylor Swift: Midnight Music Review - Late-night pop music, full of self-loathing and criticism of stereotypes

It’s one of the weirder aspects of 21st century pop that every major new album feels like a puzzle to be solved. Nothing is ever just announced, promoted, then released. Instead, breadcrumbs of mysterious hints and visual clues are very gradually dropped via the artist’s social media channels. Fans pore over them and formulate excitable theories as to what’s about to happen. Articles are written collating said fans’ theories and weighing up their potential veracity. Sometimes, it goes on longer than the actual album’s stay in the charts.

It's one of the strangest aspects of 21st-century pop music, with each major new album feeling like a puzzle to be solved. There's never something that just announces, publicizes, and then publishes. Instead, mysterious cues and visual cues are lost to fans through the artist's social media channels like breadcrumbs. Fans pored over the clues and came up with excited theories about what was to come. The article was written to sort out the theories of the aforementioned fans and weigh their potential veracity. Sometimes, this is longer than the actual album stays on the charts.

It has certainly happened with Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album, Midnights. Everything has been pored over for potential information about its contents, up to and including the kind of eye shadow she wears on the album cover. Conspiracy theories have abounded. Space precludes exploring them here, as does concern for your welfare: reading about them makes one’s head hurt a bit.

Taylor Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights, did just that. Everything was carefully researched for potential information about its content, including the kind of eyeshadow she used on album covers. Conspiracy theories abound. Due to space constraints, we can't explore it here, as is the concern for your welfare: reading this content is a bit of a headache.

Still, perhaps it’s inevitable that people are intrigued as to Swift’s next move. There has been a lot of talk in recent years about the willingness of big stars to service their fans with more of the same: building an immediately recognisable brand in a world where tens of thousands of new tracks are added to streaming services every day. It’s an approach that Midnights’ one marquee-name guest, Lana Del Rey, knows a lot about, but not one to which Swift has adhered. Instead, she has continually pivoted: from Nashville to New York, pedal steel guitars to fizzing synthesisers, Springsteen-like heartland rock to dubstep-infused pop.

Perhaps curiosity about Swift's next move, though, is inevitable. There's been a lot of talk in recent years about big stars being willing to offer more of the same service to their fans: building an instantly recognizable brand in a world where tens of thousands of new tracks are added to streaming services every day. This is an approach that Lana Del Rey, a famous guest at Midnights, knows very well, but is not the one that Swift insists on. Instead, she's constantly converting: from Nashville to New York, from pedal steel guitars to glittering synths, from Springsteen style to Dolbystap (echo bass) fusion pop style.

Word of the day

• review /rɪˈvjuː/ n. music review;
• small-hours n. early morning; late night;
• pop /pɑːp/n. pop;
• stereotype-smashing attacks stereotyped ideas;
• smashing /ˈsmæʃɪŋ/ n. 搓;
• breadcrumb /ˈbredkrʌmb/ n. breadcrumb;
• hint /hɪnt/ n. hint;
• clue /kluː/ n. clue;
• pore over takes a closer look;
• formula/ˈfɔːrmjuleɪt/vt. proposed; come up with;
• weigh up trade-offs;
• veracity /vəˈræsəti/ n. authenticity;
• Conspiracy Theories;
• abound /əˈbaʊnd/ vi. is present in large quantities;
• preclude /prɪˈkluːd/ vt. obstruction;
• intrigued /ɪnˈtriːɡd/ adj. of interest;
• track /træk/ n. single;
• streaming services;
• Marquee-Name Adj. famous;
• adhere /ədˈhɪr/ vi. Insist;
• pivot /ˈpɪvət/ vi. conversion;
• infused /ɪnˈfjuːzd/ adj. fused;

Source of the footage

Text from: The Guardian

By Alexis Petridis

Originally published: 21 Oct. 2022

Everyday phrases

Knowledge advances by steps and not by leaps.

Knowledge can only be gradual, not leapfrogged.