Crystal Aura Gaze

With another Taylor Swift album coming in April, I thought I’d say my final thoughts about the closing of her Midnights era. I have to say that it has been my least favorite so far.

First of all, the promotion was messy and misleading. When the album artwork came out, everyone was convinced that this would be a 70s rock-style album. In her photos, she looks distressed, and we see low lighting and retro furniture. The wallpaper, sofa, piano, and fashion looks completely based in the 70s. In her statement about the upcoming album, she described it as restless nights and looking back in regret. We all thought that we were getting this deep, dark album, possibly a rock album.

I was beyond excited when I saw that there would be a feature with Lana Del Rey, one of my favorites. When I finally heard the song, it turns out that she was only featured as background vocals that you could barely pick up on. A couple weeks or so later, she releases and deluxe version with Snow On The Beach featuring more Lana Del Rey, in which she actually has her own verses. Why couldn’t this version be on the original?

A few hours after Midnights came out, there was a “3am edition” with seven more tracks. These sounded very different from the original album, similar to Folklore and Evermore, closer to what people were expecting. They were all good songs but a completely different vibe.

And the marketing was definitely money hungry. Midnights was on pre sale for four different covers, along with cassette tape and CD versions. After everyone preorders Midnights, she releases a new version three hours later with seven more tracks, and then a couple weeks later another extended addition. There should’ve only been one deluxe version, and they should’ve advertised that before everyone spent their money on the original.

A lot of the songs are connected to prior songs from prior albums. “Maroon” relates to “Red”, and “Question” relates to “Style”, and “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve” relates to “Dear John”, etc. And it makes sense because this album was recording in the midst of her re-recording process. So it makes sense that past feelings and situations were going through her mind. It also makes sense as a way of advertising her Eras Tour and re-recorded albums.

I think that a majority of the success of Midnights relates to her nostalgia factor and re-recording of albums. I think that the Eras Tour is so popular because it captures all of the success of all of her previous albums, especially from her earlier years, like 2008-2015. Midnights has no foundation without her prior work. And I think that’s exactly what her team intended to do, to maximize the success of her re-recordings. This album, along with the entire Eras Tour, would not have happened without the record label conflict that pushed her into re-recording.

There are absolutely some great songs on this album. “Anti-Hero” is my favorite and I also love “Bejeweled”. From the 3am edition, I love “The Great War.” Also, “Lavender Haze” and “Karma” are super catchy. In no way is it a bad album. But I was disappointed because of how messy and misleading the promotion was. It felt a little bit scammy to me.

Now with “The Tortured Poets Department,” the promotion seems to be following a similar style. We haven’t heard any music from it yet, only the album artwork, which has four alternative covers. It’s sepia toned and shows her looking serious and introspective. And with an album title name such as this one, you’d assume that it will be a deep and dark record. But because of what happened with Midnights, I believe that it is going to be bubblegum pop and very upbeat and catchy, with two or three sad songs thrown in there.

But there’s a big difference between “Midnights” and “TTPD.” Her personal life was very quiet and steady leading up to release of Midnights. However, leading up to “TTPD,” she has gone through so much public drama, media attention, and relationship changes, that this album will probably cover a lot of details that we’ve been wondering about. Perhaps we’ll learn more about her split from Joe Alwyn. I think that fact alone will make this upcoming album more popular and intriguing than Midnights.