Despite having released four albums in the past three years, the Swifties are a bunch that are hard to satiate – they can never get enough Taylor.
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With the added fact that two of those four albums are majority re-recorded material – thanks to Swift’s ongoing pursuit to earn back the rights to her music – her fans were waiting patiently for her to announce something completely new.
On Sunday (August 28) at the Video Music Awards, she gave them just that.
After winning her gazillionth VMA for her “All Too Well” short film, Swift took the stage during the broadcast and announced an impending project, Midnights. “I had made up my mind that if you were gonna be this generous, and give us this …” she said while holding up the award.
The pop icon went on to reveal the “brand new album” while teasing that more would be known at midnight. She did indeed follow suit on her deal, and fans have now been given some information to hold them over until the fateful day comes.
Below, we’re going through what we know about Swift’s next studio album so far. With further ado, let’s dive in.
The Release Date
This one is obvious, as Swift said the release date loud and proud while announcing the album at the VMAs.
“I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand new album comes out Oct. 21,” she said. She later confirmed the date in her Instagram post that night. “Meet me at midnight,” she wrote.
The Number of Tracks
As evident by the presumed album cover that Swift posted on Instagram, Swift has stuck to her lucky-number guns and has gone with 13 tracks for the record.
Swift, who has long expressed her love of the number, has to have some sort of connection to it on her album releases. Whether it’s a release date, a track list, or the product of some intense arithmetic, the number 13 is a guiding force in Swift’s releases.
The tracks on Midnights will be split up into two groups—a Side A and a Side B.
Bring the Tissues
Along with the album cover and the number of tracks, Swift posted a short description of what the album is about. Overall, the album will encapsulate “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.” Given that subject matter, it might just be Swift’s most intimate and emotional record yet.
“We lie awake in love and fear, in turmoil and in tears,” she wrote about the record overtop a photo of herself looking down. “We stare at walls and drink until they speak back. We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t—right this minute—about to make some fateful life-altering mistake.
“This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams,” she added. “The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching—hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve… we’ll meet ourselves.”
The Cover Art
Many fans think Swift is harkening back to the days of Tumblr sleaze or a ’70s disco vibe with the album cover. That being said, it could be assumed that the sound will follow suit.
The cover art sees Swift looking at a lighter with glittery blue eyeshadow and a thick black winged liner. Obviously, we will have to wait to hear the album to know what’s in store sonically, but Swifties are clearly having a great time theorizing in a way only they know how.
It Could Be Record Breaking
If Midnights reaches No. 1 on the Billboard charts she will match Barbra Streisand for the most No. 1 albums by a female artist. She already has had 10 releases reach the top spot.
If it reaches the peak position she will also tie for third place with Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, and Drake for the most No.1’s since the chart originated in 1956. Only The Beatles and Jay-Z have amassed more than 11 No. 1’s.
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