This is a first for Miroirs Ca in offering a review of a country-pop recording but Taylor Swift is not your run-of-the-mill artist and neither is her latest release Midnights (Republic label). It’s hard to ignore a singer-songwriter who has received eleven Grammy Awards and whose work has consistently topped charts like Billboard, including this recording which sold over a million copies during the first week. It is also worth mentioning that the recording is available on vinyl, CD and cassette (also streaming on Apple Music and Spotify) and features a kaleidoscope of different artwork and photos for each – namely Moonstone Blue, Blood Moon, Mahogany and Jade Green.
The Lavender edition offered by Target is reviewed here, of which the booklet opens with the question, “What keeps you up at night?” where Swift reveals personal reflections for each of the thirteen songs. She explains, “This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams.”
Swift’s apparent inspiration for this, her tenth studio album is the result of something many have experienced at one time or another; insomnia – a subject that seems to cast a rather aesthetic and mysterious hue even before the listening begins. The issue of sleepless nights is highlighted in Bach’s glorious work Goldberg Variations for two-manual harpsichord.
There is a consensus that because a German count struggled with insomnia, Bach was asked to write a composition to keep him entertained and keyboardist Johann Goldberg was on call to play the Aria with 30 variations. But Bach and Swift do have perhaps one similarity; their music contains an almost mesmerizing rhythmic intensity. Most of the songs on Midnights were written by Swift and go-to collaborator-producer-musician Jack Antonoff – who won seven Grammy Awards.
Listening with the perspective of a classical musician made the experience even more interesting. The songs are supported by vocals, guitars, drums, percussion and keyboard that swirl around in a soundscape of synthesized harmonics. Labyrinth is a stand out for its defused metric twists and acoustic effects. Snow On The Beach is another example of Swift’s experimentation with a variety of vocal effects and irregularities of phrasing that defined the lyrics of each song - which she projects with pure, translucent and very high pitched vocal quality in Sweet Nothing and Midnight Rain. There is something earthy and real about the crystalline tone she draws from Bejeweled and Lavender Haze, accompanied by a background of drum beats that kind of evoke thumping in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.
Hits Different, the first of three bonus tracks sounds more in tune with Swift’s country music roots. But the creative side of Midnights is both intriguing, refreshing and the crossover equivalent of hearing a newly commissioned classical oriented work by a composer of our time. Her The Eras Tour will begin in Spring and include July and August performances in California at Levi’s Stadium and SoFi Stadium.
And this just in: Swift won four awards at this year’s MTV EMA in Germany for Best Artist, Best Pop, Best Video and Best Longform. And at the American Music Awards she received Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop Album among others awards. Stay tuned for more reviews that highlight varied musical genres.