Midnights is centred around late-night contemplation. It ends up with the lucidity of Taylor bolting up at night to frantically scribe her thoughts, only to realise in the morning that she had actually written “sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby”. Yes, that line made the cut—it is one of the many strained moments that haunt her latest record. When Taylor manages to go an entire song without a jarring metaphor or flexing her half-baked ‘bad’ persona, the more melancholic writing, set against a sub-bass, heavy pop backdrop, does create a reflectivity. Nonetheless, Taylor’s phoned-in songwriting remains Midnights’ very own sleep paralysis demon.
13/30
A favourite: ‘Lavender Haze’
‘Midnights’ is out now via Republic.
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